The Princess Bride
by RayJay
Summary: (COMPLETE!) What is the most important thing in the world? True love. How do we maintain our balance? Keeping our love at all costs... (InuKag, based off of S. Morgensterns The Princess Bride)
1. Prologue

The Princess Bride  
  
(I don't own the characters of InuYasha nor do I own S. Morgenstern's The Princess Bride)  
  
(A/N: I just thought it would be cute to write something about Princess Bride because it's like my FAVORITE movie. Cary Elwes is so hot!!! (! Plus, I've never found a fic that has used this plot, so we'll see how it turns out.)  
  
(Second A/N: I've also changed the personalities of some of the Princess Bride characters to match the InuYasha casts attitudes so just in case you're wondering.)  
  
P R O L O G U E :  
  
Kagome grew up on a small farm outside the city of Florin. (A/N: Yes, I'm trying to keep the places the same so I don't get utterly confused, 'cuz then I would have to start finding cities in Japan and such and then. well. ok what was the purpose of this author's note again?) She lived with her mother and her younger brother Sota and they worked hard to make ends meet on their farm. When Kagome was fifteen years old, her mother, Lady Higurashi, decided they needed another hand on the farm. One day, they set out for Florin to purchase a slave.  
  
In town, Kagome and Sota wandered off, curious with all of the outdoor shops and all of the strange people yelling about their goods. Out of the corner of her eye, Kagome saw a flash of silver disappear between two huts and charge into the alley. "What was that?" She asked her brother, gazing off in the direction.  
  
"I dunno. Let's go follow it!" He replied with an impish smile, grasping his sister's hand in his own and they both dashed after the person. Darkness enveloped the both of them and their running pace slowed dramatically. "Uh. Kagome?"  
  
"Yes, Sota?" She answered, feeling his grip on her hand tighten. He whimpered a little bit because of the blackness of the alley and snuggled closer to her. "Come on, it's not that dark! Besides, it's not like we're going to get-"  
  
"What the hell are you doing here?" An angry voice roared from the darkness. Kagome froze, her dark sapphire eyes drying as she licked her lips and looked around vainly in the darkness.  
  
"K-Kagome. W-who was t-that?" Sota stuttered in fear, his arm fully intertwined with his elder sister's as he tried to use her body to shield him. She hushed her brother and pulled him closer to herself with her other arm and gulped, ready to speak with a steady and unafraid voice.  
  
"We saw someone come back here and we were just curious at who was there." She answered the mysterious voice, gasping when she heard something hit the ground with a light thud before her. Amber eyes, clear and cold were staring at her now, with an almost curious glare. "Are you the one was saw?"  
  
"Yeah, it was me who fled," the man spit back, blinking and then cleared his throat. "You're not going to tell them I'm back here are you?" He asked with desperation and panic weaved into his gruff voice.  
  
Who would we tell? She asked, but decided to be honest, even though she was a bit oblivious to what he was talking about. "No, we won't." Kagome replied, meeting eyes with the dark stranger, feeling the blackness closing in on her. The man sighed and then shifted his position on his feet.  
  
"If you turn around, you'll be out in the market again," He stated, putting a large hand on her shoulder and turning her the other direction. "Don't make it obvious you were in here." He added before Kagome heard footsteps running away from the spot, growing distant.  
  
My. That was an interesting experience. 


	2. Chapter One

Chapter One:  
  
When Kagome and Sota walked into the open once again, they immediately dusted themselves off and acted as if nothing had happened. Sota looked up to his elder sister, untangling their arms. "Hey Kagome?"  
  
"Yes, Sota?" She replied, meeting his questioning eyes.  
  
"Who was that person?"  
  
"I don't know." Kagome sighed. Those piercing amber eyes would now be forever imprinted in her memory. She vowed never to forget the beautiful coloring of his orbs and they way his voice had sounded so gruff and coarse.  
  
"Get back here beast!" Someone roared above the crowd. The similar silver zoomed by Kagome and Sota, making them gasp and stare. "STOP!"  
  
"You'll never get me you bastards!" A group of men were on a vigorous chase. The fleeing person possessed demonic speed it seemed. Realization slapped Kagome and she stared hard at the retreating figure.  
  
"Sota! It's the man from the alley!" She gasped.  
  
"You're right!" Her younger brother replied, just as stunned as she. He was escaping the men from the market. They wanted to get him. "What are we going to do?" He asked, seeing his sister pondering something over in her head. She swallowed and her mouth was set in a determined line.  
  
"Come on! We're gonna follow them!" She shouted, yanking Sota's arm as she ran as fast as her slim legs would take her. The sounds of lashing could be heard and purely animalistic roars sounded from a cornered area of the marketplace, where a large mob was starting to gather at all of the commotion. The two of them were paralyzed suddenly at the scene going on in front of them.  
  
"You stubborn hanyou!" One man screamed, beating the poor half-breed with chains thick, steel chains. The hanyou tried to crawl away from its currently injured and bleeding state, but could not and the beatings from the chains were only adding to the pain. "Why do you insist on escaping from the slave market if you keep getting caught like this?"  
  
Kagome's hand flew to her mouth in shock and in horror, tears welling in her eyes. He was a slave. and he had tried to escape. This poor creature! She thought, and felt Sota tugging on her skirt.  
  
"We. we should go." The younger boy mumbled, feeling pity for the enslaved half-demon, a man who had tried to hide in the darkness of the alleys to escape the slave owners and his former way of life.  
  
We. we can't leave him though. Kagome's eyes overflowed from sympathy for the poor creature. He just wanted his freedom, yet. he was captured. By this time, the men had now bound him in thick shackles and chains, one around his neck, two for his wrists and one on each leg. As they tugged him by, the hanyou growled in the direction of Kagome and Sota, pure malice reflecting in his eyes and face.  
  
Kagome started to take a step forward to apologize, but the creature snarled and cursed at her, and then was beaten for looking at the people who had gathered. Oh my god. She thought, crying even harder. Why was he looking at me like that? What did I do?  
  
"Kagome! Sota!" Lady Higurashi called out to her children, embracing them tightly. "I'm so glad I've found you. Come, you are going to return home now."  
  
"But I thought you said we were here for a work-hand for the farm!" Sota exclaimed, his eyes now wide with disappointment. He had wanted another playmate because Kagome had stopped playing his childish games just recently.  
  
"I shall take care of that business as soon as you go," Lady Higurashi answered, ushering her children ahead of her. "Now be safe as you go home, and watch for the youkai in the forest. I will be returning home with someone later tonight."  
  
"Alright mother," Kagome sighed, still stunned by the look of pure hatred she had been given by the enslaved hanyou. She also felt ashamed. What had she done to deserve that? She and Sota had not given him away, so what was the matter with him? Shaking her head clear of her thoughts, Kagome took her younger brother's hand and they both cautiously walked back to their farmhouse on their land. 


	3. Chapter Two

(A/N: The beginning here isn't really having to do with the movie or the book, but it's giving back round and setting up the plot!)  
  
Chapter Two:  
  
"Kagome? Are you ok?" Sota asked, after the long period of silence that had lapsed between them on the way home subsided. He had gotten a little worried about her since they had left the market. She had seemed. out of it.  
  
"Huh? What?" She started, jolting upright. She sighed and got her heart under control, preparing to answer her younger brother's question. "Yeah. I'm fine."  
  
"You've seemed kinda sad ever since we left. How come?"  
  
"Oh! It's nothing!" She laughed nervously. "I'm perfectly fine, Sota! Let's just get home, ok?" She latched onto his arm and they broke into a run all the way back to the farmhouse.  
  
*  
  
Lady Higurashi walked around the slave auction, observing all of the young males who would be suitable as farm boys. Maybe Sota and Kagome will become friends with the farmhand, she thought to herself, stopping when she heard noises coming from a closed tent.  
  
"You just don't LEARN do you boy?" A harsh voice spat, with the clashing of chains and a yelp of anger following.  
  
"Tie him down!" Another yelled. Lady Higurashi's temper rose slightly and she marched to the tent and swept the fabric door out of the way. Inside, she saw a boy of about seventeen, shirtless and bleeding. He was panting, his eyes tinged red from his anger and defiance.  
  
"What is the meaning of this?" She asked firmly, her hands going to her hips. The men abusing the furious slave froze and looked up almost as if they were guilty of a heinous crime. The boy gazed up at the woman through skeins of his thick and messy silver hair in confusion. What was she doing?  
  
"This trash has been escaping ever since he came here. He's too powerful to be on the loose. It's not your business what we do with him, ma'am." The tallest of all the slaveholders said. He stood and confronted her, an angry glint in his cold eyes.  
  
"Well, he is a slave, isn't he?" Lady Higurashi stated slyly, her eyes narrowing in healthy mischief. "And I am in need of a farm hand." She smiled sweetly down at the sprawled out boy on the ground, making his eyes soften. "I'd like to take him."  
  
"You'd like to WHAT?" All of the slaveholders yelled in shock.  
  
"He seems that he would do a good job." Lady Higurashi replied confidently. "Now prepare him at once!"  
  
She's CRAZY, was the look on every one of their faces. "Very. Well. Ma'am." The tallest that had spoken specifically to Lady Higurashi grabbed the chains and yanked him along. "Come on, beast!"  
  
*  
  
Kagome had just finished tucking Sota in for the night and walked through the kitchen and stared out the window, looking for her mother. The sun had just gone down and she was starting to grow worried. I wonder what kind of a farm hand she got?  
  
She sighed and started to turn away to go up to her bed when she saw two shadows, the figures lit by the light from a weak torch. "Mother!" She called as she ran out the door to greet and stopped when she saw the slave hand Lady Higurashi had brought back.  
  
"It's you." She said quietly, watching as he tensed and growled slightly.  
  
"He made some noise!" Lady Higurashi exclaimed, smiling at the slave boy. "You've been quiet the whole time. Don't be shy. Speak some more!"  
  
The slave boy just growled softly in his throat again and sniffed, staring at the ground. Kagome noticed something purple around his neck, hiding underneath his thick silvery white hair.  
  
"What's this?" She asked, reaching out to touch it, when he bared his fangs at her and jumped back. Lady Higurashi was jolted backwards a little bit because she was still holding the chains and she gasped loudly.  
  
"Honey, I think he's a little bit afraid right now. We shouldn't do anything sudden like that," She explained to her daughter. "I'm going to make him a place to stay so why don't you go inside."  
  
Kagome nodded and stared slightly at the new occupant of the household. Why didn't he like her? He had reacted like that after he had been publicly beaten when they had captured him. She watched her mother and the slave leave, in confusion, wondering what she had done to make him act like that.  
  
What did I do to him? I don't even know.  
  
(A/N: Yes, I will get into the plot soon enough, don't worry. But like I said, it's InuYasha style and it's got my writing twist!) 


	4. Chapter Three

Chapter Three:  
  
(A/N: Writers block subsided! WAHOO!)  
  
*  
  
"InuYasha!" Lady Higurashi called out the window to the farm boy who was cutting some wood. "Would you come here a moment?" The hanyou, reluctant to come into contact with any of the family members, trudged over and stood patiently.  
  
"You needed something?" He asked gruffly, his amber eyes looking through his thick silvery bangs at the kind-hearted woman who had took him in. It was out of pity and he hated it.  
  
"Would you go and find Kagome for me? I need her to go to Lady Yusaki's house to return the kimono she left the last time she had visited our home," Lady Higurashi smiled, watching as he sighed and nodded. "Thank you, dear."  
  
"Don't call me dear," He spat back suddenly and harshly, biting his tongue afterwards. "You're not my mother." He turned, skeins of his mane blowing in the wind as he sniffed the air and took off to the east. Lady Higurashi stood puzzled and gazed out at the young man, wondering what had caused that outburst. She was only trying to make him feel welcome and unlike the slave he was.  
  
* *  
  
Kagome was lying in the fields, enjoying the feel of the crisp breeze and the peacefulness she felt away from home. Ever since her mother had brought the farm boy InuYasha home, there had been nothing but chaos and tension. She had tried to speak with him but ended up becoming angry with him every single time. He was an impossible, arrogant and RUDE jerk!  
  
Flashback.  
  
Kagome walked to the barn when her mother had returned to the house after she had taken InuYasha to the barn. She was curious as to why the boy was being so nasty and animal-like. She knocked silently on the barn door and opened it cautiously, as if he was going to break all of her bones if she entered. She saw him up in the rafters of the old barn, sitting and brooding. The welts on his arms were scabbing over from what she could see and she also noticed that her dear mother had provided him with a clean hakama.  
  
"Hello up there," she called, gasping when he leapt down right in front of her in a swift movement. He was growling through his fangs and his smoldering orbs were searing her body with their anger.  
  
"What are you doing in here?" He snarled, his voice not sounding human or normal like it had in the alley earlier that day.  
  
"I was just coming to see how you liked the barn and I was going to introduce myself," she replied, feeling her patience with this hanyou wear thin. Why was he being so mean? What had she done?  
  
"The barn is just fine and I don't really care who you are," He retorted, turning around to go pace back and forth across the wooden floors. That is when Kagome noticed he was barefoot.  
  
"Do you want some sandals? We have my father's old pair back at the house- "  
  
InuYasha whirled around and snarled, appearing in her face with his talons positioned by her throat. Kagome swallowed a cry and fixed him a look of fury.  
  
"Excuse ME," She shouted. "What the HELL do you think you doing?"  
  
"What the hell is with you people? Why are you trying to be so nice? You all pity me and I hate pity! Leave me alone! All of you! I'll be your stinkin' farm boy and that's all! I don't want to have anything to do with you!" He yelled back, pushing her away and running out the door.  
  
Kagome followed but couldn't keep up so she yelled into the distance, "My name is Kagome and I just want to be your friend!"  
  
"Well friends don't betray each other!" He roared back, not stopping and disappeared from her vision, into the night.  
  
Wait. I betrayed him? HOW? I barely know him! Oh that JERK!  
  
End Flashback.  
  
All conversations went down hill. Every single one she had ever had with him. except one. It was beginning to drive her insane! But every time she spoke with him, she realized that something had caused him great pain and that was why he acted the way he did.  
  
Flashback.  
  
"InuYasha?" Kagome asked softly, unsure of what she was seeing. She saw him flee earlier that day after he had fed the animals but paid no mind. "Is that you?"  
  
"Feh. Yeah, who'd you think it was?" He barked back, his hand sweeping through his thick black hair. He fixed his violet eyes on her, looking irritated. Kagome got on her knees and reached out uncertainly to touch his face lightly and was mildly surprised when he didn't pull away. Instead, a light blush patched across his cheeks and he made nervous sounds in his throat. "What are you doing?" He whispered, sounding cornered.  
  
"Why do you look like this? Where are you ears and your claws, InuYasha?" She questioned, searching around this thick black mane for the adorable little cat ears that she secretly admired.  
  
The hanyou turned human sighed and backed away from her innocent touch. "You weren't supposed to find out about this," He mumbled and saw her chocolate brown eyes fall at the response he gave her, "but now that you've managed to find out I should tell you." He took a deep breath and leaned back on his elbows, looking up at the dark, moonless sky. "My mother was a human, my father was a dog youkai. I'm only half youkai and so when there's no moon in the sky, I turn human for a night. I really didn't want anyone to find out about it because I could be killed because of it."  
  
Kagome was shocked. He was actually talking civilly to her and he let her touch him- and what was this? He was telling her his secret? Her own face began to glow an unruly crimson red. "Thank you for trusting me with your secret, InuYasha." She said with a smile, watching as he stiffened a bit and gave an embarrassed sound that accompanied his red cheeks.  
  
"Trusting you? No! If you tell, I'll kill you!" InuYasha shouted at her, making her smile flip into a hurt arc. Tears mounted in her eyes and he gasped again. Damn it he was working himself deeper and deeper into the hole now!  
  
"You're such a stupid jerk! What's your problem?" She sobbed, jumping to her feet and kicked him before she took off back towards the house.  
  
"FEH!" He shouted after her, feeling somewhat bad about how he had treated her.  
  
End Flashback.  
  
"Kagome!" InuYasha shouted, bringing her out of her daydream. She bolted upright at hearing his voice and blushed because of the topic she had been thinking of just seconds before.  
  
The hanyou halted before her, the sunlight glinting off of his perspiring, lean body. Kagome never new how handsome he really was until this moment, his muscular chest heaving a little from the small run he had had and a few thick sections of hair had blown over his shoulder. Her blush deepened and her scent became lined with her embarrassment. InuYasha himself became off balance a little bit at her arousal.  
  
"Yes?" She asked, focusing on the ground. She couldn't look at him now. She had just made an idiot of herself!  
  
"Uh. Your ma wants you. To return a kimono. that she had to. give." He gulped, unable to control his youkai blood. She was aroused, causing him to be aroused. He dropped to his knees and pulled her into his arms, against his strong chest that seared her with his heat and attractiveness. Kagome gasped when she met his eyes and saw them to be clouded with lust, but realized they were a mirror image of her own. They wanted each other.  
  
InuYasha bent his head down and rested his warm lips to her soft and pliant ones. She tasted so sweet and pure that he groaned to spite himself. Kagome wasn't sure what to do but she relaxed into him and moved her mouth in unison with his. His chest hummed with growls when she started to kiss him harder. He slid his tongue into her slick mouth and explored every inch of it, she doing the same to him. Unable to help himself, the hanyou's hand crept down to Kagome's bosom and he gently started to tease her left breast.  
  
"InuYasha." Kagome moaned, prickling sensations going down her spine from his hand and his tongue. His touch was making her shiver with pleasure.  
  
InuYasha wanted more. He wanted MUCH more. He never realized how deep his feelings for her were. Even though he was angry with her for betraying him in the market, he knew she was just as kind as her mother and willing to be his friend. But, she had a fiery personality and a very vile temper when he brought it out of her. At this moment, he forgot about all of it and just focused on her silky presence that was leading him astray from his levels of control.  
  
"InuYasha. Why are we doing this?" She whispered between adjustments of the mouth.  
  
There was no response, just a pleased growl and a small chuckle from her question. Kagome sighed and drew back, holding his face in her hands, stroking his cheeks gently.  
  
"What did I do to betray you?" She asked, remembering the argument they had had the first night at the barn. Since they were basically making out, it would be the perfect time to ask, right?  
  
InuYasha's eyes cleared immediately and became consumed in fury. "What did you do? I'll tell you what you did! You went and you told the slave masters that I had run away! They found me because of you! I was going to get away too," He spat, his eyes softening again when he saw a tear escape her eye.  
  
"Y-you've been treating me horribly because." She tried to swallow her anger and hurt feelings. "Because you assumed I betrayed you?" She withdrew her hands. "I never did that! Sota and I never went to the slave cart at all! We did nothing! And you blamed me for betraying you when I only wanted to get closer to you? InuYasha!" She began to sob into her little hands, hurt that he would think of such a thing.  
  
"K-Kagome, don't cry. S-stop it!" He ordered, but it only served to make her bawl some more. No knowing what to do, he tried to back away from her, but was unable to when she crumbled back into his chest. He raised his hand unsurely to the back of her head and massaged and stroked her hair softly, using his free arm to pull her closer as she cried.  
  
"I-I didn't do it." She moaned a little between sobs, tearing at the hanyou more.  
  
"Kagome. I. I've never been able to trust anyone. That. That's why I thought you had done that. I was. wrong." He gulped, feeling strange. He had never apologized in these circumstances before. Was he even doing it right?  
  
Kagome drew back, her eyes puffy and a sneer crossed her lips. "OF COURSE YOU WERE WRONG!" She roared, knocking him onto his back so she was on top of him. "I'd never do anything to hurt the ones I lo-" She stopped, her chocolate brown eyes wide.  
  
InuYasha looked at her in disbelief. "W-what?"  
  
Kagome jumped up, embarrassed and started to fiddle with her hands. "I uh. have to go take that kimono back for mother. B-bye!" She stuttered, fleeing with a face that resembled a cherry.  
  
InuYasha felt a pang in his stomach when realization hit him. They were in love with each other.  
  
(A/N: There's a good long chapter for you! Sorry it took me so long but I've been busy (! Hope you liked all the cute stuff in it!) 


	5. Chapter Four

Chapter Four:  
  
Weeks passed and Inuyasha and Kagome grew closer. They kept their love a secret from her mother and Sota. They were inseparable. Wherever Kagome went, she had a handsome silver haired hanyou following, watching out for her. Whenever he went to work in the fields, Kagome was there, talking to him and offering him water when he needed it. They were truly happy. But, as always, happiness cannot always last forever.   
  
"Kagome, please. Don't make this any harder for me than it already is," Inuyasha whispered into her hair, holding her gently, his heart throbbing at all the emotions he was experiencing.  
  
"You can't go! I won't let you! I love you, Inuyasha!" She cried and her lips that were salty with her sorrow claimed his in a bruising and unforgiving kiss. The hanyou returned her affections, moaning when she teased his abs and spine with her light touch. He drew back and kissed a tender path down her soft and delicate neck, never wanting to leave this beautiful young woman who had captured his heart.  
  
Kagome closed her eyes and leaned her head back, her hands tangling in his silky silver hair. She felt him distance himself slightly but he pulled her against his sultry chest. "I love you too, Kagome. I'll come back. There's nothing that will keep me from you."  
  
"How do I know that? What if something horrible happens? What will I do?" She whispered and inhaled his comforting aroma as best she could. He pulled her back and cupped her cheek with his large hand that ended in tapered but slender claws. "How can I trust that you'll come back?" She added, a gust of wind brushing by the two of them sending raven and silver locks cascading around the two lovers.  
  
Inuyasha took her other hand and put it on his chest. Kagome felt the soft but strong tattoo beneath her small hand and exhaled, feeling somewhat relaxed. He then hooked a finger under her chin and forced her to meet his amber eyes that were warm and confident, if not very sad. "Do you feel that?"  
  
"Yes, it's your heartbeat," She replied not understanding what he meant.  
  
"No. That's not what I mean," He smiled lightly in embarrassment, a little irritated because he was unused to saying things like this. "Do you feel how you make my heart go faster? It's because I love you. Always trust that. Never doubt it. It is true and true love can't ever be broken."  
  
Kagome was frozen. Did he really just say that? She felt the warm and passionate blush crawl up her cheeks and a miniscule smile curled at her own lips. She nodded and felt his lips brush against her forehead before he embraced her again. "I'll never doubt it..." She whispered, barely inaudible.

Was he really gone? It felt like he had just left when he had been away for three months now. Inuyasha, being one of the village's strongest young men (the strongest in fact because he was half youkai), was drafted along with all the others to join a mission to settle land in the newly discovered America's. Kagome missed him with all of her heart.  
  
"When I learn to read and I write I'll send you a message. Don't forget about me or I'll be so pissed when I get back that you'll HAVE to come back to me!"  
  
The young woman who was hopelessly in love smiled at the memory, one lone tear sliding down her cheek. When he came back, she would be more beautiful for him. She was after all still very young. He would probably come back being stronger, more handsome, and more of a man...  
  
"Kagome!" Kagome gasped and her face turned an unruly red as her mother's calm voice broke her through her reverie. "There is someone here. Will you answer the door please?"  
  
"Yes, mother," She replied and hopped down, running past her mother in the kitchen, her eyes dancing. Lady Higurashi smiled at her daughter. Ah, the joys of first love. She might have pretended she did not know of her daughter's relationship with the farm boy but she did not disapprove. He was a fine young man who had softened greatly ever since he had let their family care for him. _When he returns I know there will be wedding preparations to make sure of... _She thought, smiling.  
  
Kagome came to a skidding halt in front of the door and smoothed her appearance, waiting for the blush on her cheeks to disappear. Then, she opened the door to see a messenger of some sort. She bowed when he bowed to her and invited him in.  
  
"I can only stay but a moment. This is the home of Higurashi, is it not?" He asked, his dark eyes focusing on Kagome.  
  
"Yes, yes it is." She replied.  
  
"And you are the keepers of a slave named Inuyasha?" He continued. Kagome nodded. "This is for you," He finished and then withdrew a scroll from his pocket. "Goodnight, my lady," he bowed and she bowed again as she led him out the door. When he was gone, Kagome let out a cry of joy causing her mother to look in the room.  
  
"What is it, dear?" Lady Higurashi asked, coming closer to see what it was her daughter was gripping in her hand.  
  
"It's from Inuyasha! He's written me a letter! He said he would and-" She froze, the blush returning to her cheeks as she met her mother's eyes. She cleared her throat and put a scowl in place. "Oh, I mean, who cares. It's from dumb old Inuyasha. It probably only has chicken scratching. You can have it mother," She ended her sentence with her angry mask still in place when on the inside she was erupting with joy.  
  
"Oh really. Thank you dear, at least I am worrying for Inuyasha's safety," Lady Higurashi smiled and snatched the scroll from her daughter's hand, hoping to embarrass her and bring out the truth about their love. She unrolled the scroll, eyeing its contents with a smile at first, but then it melted into pure shock. Kagome noticed this and her expression became worried.  
  
"M-mother? What is it?" She whispered, drawing nearer to her okaasan.  
  
"I-It's Inuyasha..." She replied shakily, dropping the scroll and throwing her arms around Kagome. "He's dead..."  
  
Kagome froze, unable to move, breath or form any coherent thought. Dead... "No..." she whispered, her voice husky with emotion. "He said... NO! HE'S NOT DEAD! HE SAID HE'D COME BACK FOR ME! HE TOLD ME NEVER TO DOUBT! NOOOO!" She broke into sobs and collapsed but luckily her mother was there to catch her.  
  
Lady Higurashi tried to hold and comfort her daughter but the smaller and more delicate body in her arms was shaking so violently she nearly lost her balance. "I know Koiishi... I know..." She started to weep herself. "I'm so sorry honey..."  
  
Sota made an appearance in the room to see his mother crying on Kagome's shoulder and to see Kagome right out bawling. "What happened?"  
  
"He's GONE! GONE! HE'S LEFT ME!" Kagome shouted, tears flying in all directions. "I'LL NEVER LOVE AGAIN!"  
  
"Who's gone-" Then it hit him and he started to cry. "I-Inuyasha's dead?" When his mother nodded, he joined in and the family of three embraced each other, comforting one another as best they could for it seemed they had all been affected by Inuyasha's death.  
  
Kagome sat in the room of the palace of the prince she had just been betrothed to, emotionless and unfeeling. For the last year she felt no pain, no anger, only self-consuming sadness. This had only done to perfect her appearance, giving her the mature and melancholic look. She sighed and drummed her fingers against the desk she was sitting at, admiring the sunset's beauty. _Inuyasha..._ she thought and then sighed, her lids closing over her sad and fatigued eyes. She had not slept in days.  
  
A week prior, she had been recruited to the castle by the prince of the lands. Koga. He had chosen her as his bride to pass on the family name. She, of course, did not agree, but his guards had threatened to arrest her family if she did not come, so of course she agreed to come. Inuyasha was dead after all, all but his memory.  
  
Kagome had to admit that Prince Koga was a fine looking man and he was very caring, but he was very dominant and was quick to change his mind and loose his temper. He was also very cocky. She sighed to spite herself. _This is going to be hell... I suppose I can afford to sleep right now. When I wake up, I'm going for a ride to get away from this place for a short time,_ she thought and fell asleep on her desk, her hair spread out all around her. Inuyasha... I still love you... 


	6. Chapter Five

**_Chapter Five:  
_**  
Koga peered in the room to see his fiancé, Kagome, crying in her sleep. He thought he had smelled the sick saltiness of sorrow but doubted himself, but it was getting so potent that he had to check to be sure. Why does she torture herself so much? What could have happened to her to make her act in such a way?  
  
He cleared his throat hoping to startle and wake her up. She jumped and her eyes shot open in alarm. She swiftly sat up, her eyes slightly red from lack of sleep and from her unintentional tears. She turned, wiping her eyes, to see the proud and royal wolf youkai who she was going to be wed to in a month. "Oh. L-lord Koga..." She stuttered meekly, rather embarrassed with her self. She clearly did not look presentable.  
  
"Are you alright, my dear?" He asked, his gruff and husky voice somewhat softer at an attempt to be gentle with her. He stepped into her room and stood in front of her, taking her hands and started to stroke them lightly with the pads of his thumbs. Kagome felt no warmth from his light gesture of comfort but she knew he was trying. After living in the castle for a week, observing his behavior combined with learning his personality, she knew showing this sort of affection was not an easy thing for him. She managed a weak but unconvincing smile when she looked up into his cloudy azure eyes.  
  
"I'm fine," She replied but her lips formed a neutral line after she had spoken. Koga pulled her to her feet and wrapped his arms tightly around her. Kagome felt herself be smashed against a hot and rock hair chest that did nothing to ease her pain of heartbreak. It only reminded her of how Inuyasha had been much more comfortable. She closed her eyes and attempted to keep her sorrow at bay but Koga could smell her unshed tears.  
  
"Your misery is going to be the death of you," He whispered, his hand going to tangle in her longer and softer raven locks. "I love you. You do not have to feel alone."  
  
Kagome felt a pang in her chest at his words and her emptiness re-consumed her. She did not and could not ever come to love Koga. Not as he wanted her to any way. _I'm such a horrible person. I do not even love my own fiancé..._ she thought sadly with much guilt. _I do not want to dwell on the past but I will not ever be able to forget Inuyasha. I'll try, but it will take me a very long time.  
_  
"T-thank you, Koga," she whispered and drew away from his rough embrace, feeling more oxygen pass into her lungs. He had been holding her in a death grip. "Forgive me but I need to get some fresh air. I'm going to go for a ride on my horse youkai."  
  
He nodded, feeling somewhat hurt that she did not say she loved him in return. He, in truth was very much in love with her, even though she was a human. She was the most beautiful young woman he had ever seen and her beauty was one that would only grow with time. He also needed a mate to produce his heirs. She was perfect for the job. "Be back before the sun sets. Wild youkai roam the surrounding forests."  
  
"Yes, I know," Kagome replied, bowing, and then she wrapped a traveling cloak around her shoulders. I need to get away from everyone... she thought as she strolled down the halls to exit and approach the stables.  
  
Kagome looked like an image of true ethereal beauty on the back of her horse youkai as she rode through the forest. The sun was beginning to set but by no means was she finished riding. She was a site for any male of any species at this point. Her long and thick ebony hair was blowing and bouncing off of her lower back as she held onto her horse's mane. Her dark chocolate colored eyes portrayed a sad, vulnerable edge that would have made any man want to comfort her instantly. Her cheeks were pinched with her sadness and her lips were set in a pouty line.  
  
"Excuse me," A deep and cultured voice sounded from behind her on the horse. She made her youkai mode of transportation come to a halt as she pulled the reigns so she was facing the four people who were standing on the path behind her.  
  
"May I help you?" She asked as she attempted to keep her unease and anxiety out of her voice.  
  
"Yes. We appear to be lost. Could you tell my compatriots and myself if there is a village nearby? Our woman is wounded," He finished and pointed to a young woman who looked about her age dressed in a dark cloak. She met the other woman's gaze and saw something flickering in her eyes. She then took a few moments to observe the other members of the group. There was one, he appeared to be a man, a very TALL man who was in a garment that masked his face. The one who had addressed her had dark long and unruly hair and eerie crimson eyes. There was another, besides the wounded young woman, who had his hair tied back in a short ponytail with the most obscure violet eyes she had ever seen.  
  
"No, I'm sorry. There isn't anything. If you'd like I can take her on my horse back to the castle of Lord Koga-" She started to ask but then the extremely tall man in a cloak approached her.  
  
"That is quite unnecessary," The traveler with blood red eyes said with a hint of amusement. "We have all that we need now."  
  
The tall stranger reached out and placed his hand on her neck. It was warm and it started to grip her tightly. She opened her mouth to cry out to anyone who might happen to hear it but then she slipped into blackness.  
  
"Be gentle with her, Sesshomaru. You know how fragile human women can be," Naraku chided in harsh amusement and shot a look at the Sango, the young woman who had appeared to be injured. Sesshomaru grunted, holding an unconscious Kagome in his arms cradle style.  
  
"Remind me, Naraku. Why have we just taken her captive again?" The Inuyoukai asked and shook the hood that had cloaked his features revealing long and luxurious white hair and a face that couldn't be rivaled, even by Kagome's. His golden eyes fixated on the hanyou who had freed him from captivity so many years ago.  
  
"We've been hired to start a war. How are we going to get Florin, the peaceful country that it is, to fight if we do not have the young lord's fiancé? Miroku, Sango, pick up your feet. We need to be on the ship by morning," He finished and motioned to his two human slaves. Sango glared at the enigmatic hanyou and then her eyes went to Miroku's face that was gently warning her not to say anything.  
  
"Yes master Naraku," She replied and her head bowed to the ground as she and Miroku sped up their walking pace a little bit. Naraku stopped and turned around, grabbing her by the arm, his free hand going to the small of her back. Miroku continued to walk on, pained to see the beautiful young woman be abused in such a manner.  
  
"He is truly filthy," Sesshomaru muttered as he saw Naraku force his mouth onto Sango's lips. "Using her in such a way. Why not use this wench?"  
  
"That is the princess. He plans to use her for other things," Miroku replied.  
  
"I still do not like this either way. There is nothing in it that concerns us," Sesshomaru growled a bit, showing a gleam of his white fangs. "We will probably be in the way if this war indeed starts. What a fool Naraku is."  
  
"Indeed," Miroku mumbled and they continued to walk until they got to the ship. Naraku joined them shortly, dragging Sango by her arm. She looked very shaken up and the Inuyoukai and the man knew what he had done to her.  
  
"Put the princess in the corner. We'll set sail and try to go to the Cliffs of Death by midday tomorrow," Naraku ordered and had them all prepare the ship, which they did begrudgingly. "This will be one war that no man on any side, Gilder or Florin will ever forget," Naraku added and laughed, his voice rich with evil and crude delight. Sango cringed and hid her face from Sesshomaru and Miroku, feeling dirty and cold.  
  
That is what he thinks. Feh, Sesshomaru thought, lightly tossing Kagome down in the corner of the ship and went to join Miroku in untying the sails.  
  
(A/N: I've decided that Sesshomaru will not be related to Inuyasha in this story. Yes, yes, I know it screws up the order of things but I'm going to try something new. I hope that's all right. Believe me! It'll all work out in the end! I promise! Review and tell me what you think so far! Support me guys !) 


	7. Chapter Six

Ok, Just a few notes before I write this.  
  
I appreciate all of you who are reviewing! Thank you so much !  
  
I find it hilarious that two people's opinions are contradicting each other about the princess bride. One thinks it's better and one thinks it's not as good. Now I'm inspired to try to make it better so both people will be pleased! (I highly doubt it'll be as good as the original. I mean... who could replace Cary Elwes as Wesley? Oh lord... He is sooooooooooooo incredibly hot... EEP! OFF TOPIC!)  
  
Um... I think I said all that I wanted to and I would like to thank AuroraThorn and Inuyasha Loves Me for their inspiring reviews. (I'll please you guys! I hope... Hey Inuyasha Loves Me, thanks for your opinion. I really respect it . I feel very honored that you're reading my story and telling me what you really think about it. I know it probably will not be as good as the movie but they did such a good job on it that there will NEVER be anything that comes close to it! But, you must admit. Drool with me. Cary Elwes is fine ;)  
  
(All right! I'm done with my mindless ramblings! ONTO THE CHAPTER!)  
  
_Previously..._  
  
"Put the princess in the corner. We'll set sail and try to go to the Cliffs of Death by midday tomorrow," Naraku ordered and had them all prepare the ship, which they did begrudgingly. "This will be one war that no man on any side, Gilder or Florin will ever forget," Naraku added and laughed, his voice rich with evil and crude delight. Sango cringed and hid her face from Sesshomaru and Miroku, feeling dirty and cold.  
  
That is what he thinks. Feh, Sesshomaru thought, lightly tossing Kagome down in the corner of the ship and went to join Miroku in untying the sails.

. . .  
  
_**Chapter Six:  
**_  
The stars ######## above the small ship that had been sailing for the past hour, over foamy and dangerous waters. The air was crisp and cool, feeling brisk to the humans aboard. Sango had fallen asleep on the starboard side with a small, tattered blanket shielding her from the chilly air. Miroku had placed it on her.  
  
As the ship sailed on, Naraku was sitting quietly on the furthest side from his followers, brooding and planning what was to happen next. He had kidnapped the princess and taken her into his captivity. Now all he had to do was frame Gilder for her blood being spilt. He was so consumed in his thought that he had managed to block everything else out.  
  
Golden eyes, alert and prepared, overlooked every part of the ship for any danger or inconveniences at all. The Inuyoukai shifted slightly against the side of the large boat, his eyes now hopping back and forth between the princess and of the slumbering Sango. Miroku was at his side also awake but his studies of the two women were far more... 'In depth.'  
  
"Contain yourself, Miroku. The smell of your arousal is making me ill," Sesshomaru grumbled. He stood and walked a distance between them, the aroma of his compatriot's sick thoughts still clouding his nose.  
  
"I apologize Sesshomaru, but it is not every day you see such fine looking women sleeping peacefully, unaware of the real world and their troubles. Two of them in fact," He added meaningfully, nibbling on the end of his thumb as he relaxed a bit. Was his arousal really that strong that Sesshomaru had to complain about it? "Don't you find gazing at them relaxing?"  
  
"No, I find it rather irritating. They will just be nuisances when they awaken. Besides, I do not trouble myself over any females," The handsome Inuyoukai replied and reverted his eyes up to the sky, the moon reflecting in his tawny irises and fanning off of his face. He looked like an image of pure power and divinity.  
  
"Suit yourself. I shall enjoy this view all on my own then," Miroku chuckled but started when he heard a purely innocent groan escape one of the young women's lips. He looked back and forth between the beautiful girl they had taken captive and Sango, realizing that Sango would not let out such a melodious ring from her voice at awakening.  
  
Sesshomaru's gazed flicked to the princess as she slowly sat up, her raven hair in disarray over her shoulder, rubbing the sleep from her sorrowful chocolate colored eyes. Her hand rose tentatively to rub at her neck where she had been grabbed when a gasp escaped her small rose-colored lips. Why was she on a ship with these people? What did they want? "W-who are you?" She asked and a scowl marred her ethereal beauty, replacing it with an irresistible defiance that any male would have died to argue a few words with her.  
  
"I see our princess has awakened," Miroku said aloud, amusement rich in his smooth and velvety voice. "How are you feeling, your highness?"  
  
Kagome gazed around, seeing a young man probably around twenty years old winking at her with the look of an old lecher in his eyes. She then saw the other male occupant of the area, realizing he was the one who had grabbed her by the neck and rendered her unconscious. He was beautiful and his eyes reminded her of Inuyasha's, except this man's eyes were cold and emotionless. "Why have you brought me here? What is it that you want?" She asked, not answering the lecherous young man's question.  
  
The stunningly gorgeous Inuyoukai spoke up but it was gruff and somewhat harsh. "Our master Naraku has stolen you to start a war. We do not know much of the details but what we do know is that your blood is going to be shed on the Gilderian frontier." He cleared his throat and began to look elsewhere as if he was too bored to maintain conversation with her or Miroku.  
  
Kagome was stunned. When had all of this sprung up? Why did Lord Koga not know of any of this? She let out a pent up breath and started to smooth her hair nervously. "So... I am to die when we arrive in Gilder?" She asked softly. The young man nodded, his eyes now not hinting what he was really thinking of her. "I see..."  
  
"I do not believe in this, but our Master is set on controlling everyone and everything. He desires power, money, greed, and blood of the innocent... You name it, it is what he wants," Remembering his manners, he did an impish grin. "By the way, my name is Miroku."  
  
"I'm Kagome," She replied, bowing. Perhaps this Miroku is not such a bad man along with the other two on this ship. Maybe it is their Master Naraku who is the villain in this plot, she thought and moved to sit next to the young man with violet eyes. "Excuse me," she called to Sesshomaru. The only notion that he gave of acknowledgement was a shifting of his eyes to her face. "What is your name?"  
  
"Sesshomaru, but it is of no consequence to you. We will not be in any alliances any time soon so there is no bother to remember it," He spat at her, not as calmly as he or Miroku would have liked but it was all he was used to. _Humans, filthy, disgusting, barbaric..._  
  
"Don't mind him," Miroku whispered bringing his lips close to her ear. "He's just a little rough around the edges. Why don't we use... something to soften him up..." After he spoke those words, Kagome felt a hand brush against her backside and then return again to squeeze and feel. Her eyes widened and she gave in to her first instinct. She slapped him as hard as she could, sending him flying back into the side of the ship.  
  
Sesshomaru chuckled lightly, it was controlled but he was fairly amused. "That is nearly as bad as Sango," He mumbled. Kagome looked up, her face flushed from disgust and embarrassment.  
  
"Sango?" She looked around to find who Sango was and her eyes lit up when she saw the young woman from earlier, sleeping peacefully. Her gaze turned neutral when she saw the uncomfortable shadow that loomed over the girl. "Is something the matter with her?"  
  
"Yes, mentally. Naraku has used her as his convenient pleasure slave' ever since she has reached her maturity. It has damaged her confidence. I could understand why. Mating with a beast like that is putrid and repelling," Sesshomaru snorted, shifting his position.  
  
"You don't think... he will..." Kagome swallowed, her anxiety welling up in her chest again. "Fondle me... do you?"  
  
Sesshomaru shrugged minutely, looking disinterested. "It is entirely possible. He does what he wishes. Miroku and I have no opinion to stop him."  
  
"You seem strong enough. Why don't you kill him?" Kagome asked but clamped her mouth shut at the change that came over his face. Pain, anger and wonder were all mixed together at her words.  
  
"It is not that simple..." He growled, sounding frustrated and somewhat irritated. She nodded, not really understanding. All she wanted to do was end the conversation before something else happened. "I would... If..." He trailed off, not wanting to discuss the subject further. Kagome understood.  
  
"I understand," She said and stood, walking to the side of the ship, eying the chopping waves. She leaned over to get a closer look.  
  
"I wouldn't do that," Came Sesshomaru's cool and cultured voice in mild warning.  
  
"I'll be fine-" She started to say but then screamed in alarm when something with very sharp fangs sprung forth from the water and latched onto her arm. She tried to break free but the creature, in the blink of an eye, flung her over the ship's side and sent her cascading into the dark and dangerous waters.  
  
Sesshomaru groaned. _Humans. Such foolish creatures_, he thought before he flung off his dark and heavy outer kimono, diving into the water to save her. He smelled the air but could not track her scent because she had been dragged under. He dispersed down into the salty water, opening his eyes. They burned from the acidity but his youkai senses aided him in finding her. Serpent youkai, he calculated and saw her shadow in the water, struggling. She was going to suffocate herself if she kept that up so he, with great speed, slashed the numerous water serpents that had been tearing at her clothes and inflicting minor flesh wounds on her and dragged her to the surface.  
  
Kagome gasped for air, shaking from fear and from the pain in her legs where she had been assaulted by all the serpent youkai. The salt in the water was not helping much, but she was surprised to have been saved by Sesshomaru. "T-thank y-you..." She shivered as he dumped her carelessly on board the ship, emerging and hopping up gracefully himself. He started to wring the water from his knee length white hair when he snorted and rolled his eyes.  
  
"You should have listened to me. Foolish human," He said to her in amusement and annoyance. Kagome shrugged and wrapped herself in the garment that Sesshomaru threw at her in the next instant. _He and Miroku are not bad people except for the lecherous behavior and the arrogance and impatience. Also, from what I have heard of Sango she doesn't seem it either. Are they bound to Naraku? How mysterious..._  
  
Kagome sighed. This was going to be some adventure. She just knew it. If _I am to die on the Gilderian frontier, then so be it. I will join Inuyasha and be with him for eternity.  
_  
(A/N: There's your chapter! And, as a special bonus, I will give you a preview to the next chapter!)  
  
PREVIEW:  
  
**_Chapter Seven:_**  
  
WOW! Wasn't that a great preview? (lol)


	8. Chapter Seven Parts One and Two

(Heh! With all of the beginning and ending notes I leave you I think I'm going to establish my own Writer's Corner!)  
  
_Writer's Corner:_  
  
Ok, so the story is actually going quite well. It might seem that if I stop updating this fic I will get some very nasty reviews and emails that will threaten my survival... Hmmm... To update, or not to update. That is the question! STOP!!!  
  
Before you freak out, my decision is that I will update and thanks again to all the people who review! Your support and opinions are helping me want to perfect this fic ;). I am now in the mood to try to make it as good as or better than the movie (even though I'm fairly sure that it is impossible...)  
  
_Cary Elwes es muy guapo y sexi..._ For all of you non-Spanish speakers, that translates to "Cary Elwes is very handsome and sexy." Do I have any disagreements? Hee hee hee! I thought not! Enough about MY ramble, how are you all? (;P)  
  
Also, on mediaminer, this chapter is displayed as two different ones but since I'm feeling lazy AND it's the fourth of July, I thought I'd give you guys a present! A two-part chapter! YAY!

.  
  
_Previously..._  
  
"You should have listened to me. Foolish human," He said to her in amusement and annoyance. Kagome shrugged and wrapped herself in the garment that Sesshomaru threw at her in the next instant. He and Miroku are not bad people except for the lecherous behavior and the arrogance and impatience. Also, from what I have heard of Sango she doesn't seem it either. Are they bound to Naraku? How mysterious...  
  
Kagome sighed. This was going to be some adventure. She just knew it. If I am to die on the Gilderian frontier, then so be it. I will join Inuyasha and be with him for eternity.

. . .   
  
_**Chapter Seven:**_  
  
"What is that?" Naraku snarled, pacing anxiously and angrily around the deck of the ship. He stopped, freezing to spare another glance at the spectacle of his fury. "Damn it all..."  
  
"Perhaps it's just a man returning to his wife and children in Gilder," Miroku suggested but silenced him self and returned to picking at the torn edges of his cloak. Sesshomaru was silent, staring at the ship that was nearly shadowing theirs. Kagome stood and looked back at the ship.  
  
"I think it is someone who is going to rescue me," She said in a slightly haughty tone. Sesshomaru just snorted and rolled his eyes, his gaze shifting to Sango who was slowly starting to wake up.  
  
Naraku's crimson eyes fixated on Kagome and he drew closer to her, stopping to tower over her. She shrunk back but there was a fire in her eyes that stated she would never give in. She did not fear him. "I suppose you are either very brave or very foolish. I could kill you with one swipe from my tentacles..." He whispered and raised his arm; his long kimono that was the color of black cloaked his hand.  
  
"You won't though. You need to kill me when we arrive in Guilder," she shot at him. The hanyou chuckled and it was filled with malice and amusement. "No one will save you. Stop talking with that tone," he growled and slapped her on the cheek sending her stumbling back a few steps. Kagome cupped her cheek that now felt that it was enveloped in flames. Miroku and Sesshomaru watched this happen; the Inuyoukai, emotionless and the lech, speechless.  
  
She felts tears ##### in her eyes. She had never been treated in such a manner before. _Someone... PLEASE save me...  
_  
"Naraku, don't touch her anymore," A strong and defiant feminine voice sounded from behind. Kagome turned to see Sango, awake and glaring at the hanyou who had taken her captive.  
  
"Sango," He muttered and approached her, roughly grasping her chin in his hand. "What have I told you about knowing your place?" He thrust her backwards but she caught herself and let out a sound of anger. This brought the attention of Sesshomaru and Miroku. What was she doing?  
  
"Don't touch me either," she shouted and jumped up, her slender body hidden in her large violet garment.  
  
"What?" Naraku asked, his voice held disbelief and anger. Miroku leapt up and grabbed Sango's arm, pulling her against his body.  
  
"Do not listen to her. She doesn't know what she is saying. Clearly she is still half asleep," He lied, hoping to protect her. Naraku was going to murder her. He had made that threat to her before and now... He seemed angry enough to attempt it.  
  
"Cease this idiocy all together," Sesshomaru barked at them making them all turn their heads. "Have you forgotten that we are coming in to a dock and that there is a stranger following? If we are not on our guard, he will take us when we least expect it. Drop this foolishness and let us start to Gilder," He finished, his solemn golden eyes flashing once. He brushed past Kagome as he went to leap out of the ship onto the dock.  
  
Naraku let out a small sound under his breath but then stormed off to accompany Sesshomaru in tying up. Miroku hugged Sango tighter to himself. "Did he hurt you?" he whispered, his eyes closing as she melded into his body.  
  
"No, not just now anyways," She exhaled but then remembered there was a guest on board. She quickly pulled away from the young man with etched cheeks and smiled stupidly at Kagome. "H-hello..."  
  
"Hello to you too," Kagome giggled at seeing both of their embarrassed and guilty expressions. "You are Sango, right?"  
  
"Yes," she said with a nod. "I am sorry that Miroku, Sesshomaru and I had to deceive you. We have no control of what we are to do."  
  
"That's all right. I understand," She replied, her eyes still shining from the cute image that Miroku and Sango had displayed.  
  
"Kagome," Sesshomaru called gruffly, motioning to her. "Climb on my back. Naraku, the fool that he is, wants me to carry Sango, Miroku and you as we climb The Cliffs of Death."  
  
"Oh, all right," she replied, waiting for him to bend slightly and when he did, she jumped up and wrapped her arms around his neck. He then gripped her behind the legs and took a glance back at the two lovers who were holding each other again.  
  
"Fools," he whispered and Kagome nearly missed his word.  
  
"What?" she replied, her own voice nearly as silent.  
  
"If Naraku sees them he will kill her for sure. Then I will be virtually powerless to stop him," he answered, sighing lightly in annoyance. "Come you two, I must carry you up the Cliffs," he called, startling Miroku and Sango. They nodded and hurried over, finding appropriate spots to hold on to without them being in his way.  
  
Then, they began the climb. Kagome was silent, her arms slowing gripping Sesshomaru's neck more so as their altitude increased. She was deathly afraid of heights. "Woman, are you trying to suffocate me?" Sesshomaru snapped as he climbed. His voice sounded strained from the hard work he was performing. Little did they know that there was another occupant climbing on the mountain.  
  
"Good Kami-sama! The bastard is following us!" Naraku exclaimed as he climbed by Sesshomaru's side. He quickened his pace and then glared down at the Inuyoukai who was carrying about 500 pounds extra human flesh. "Hurry yourself or he'll catch us and steal the princess!"  
  
Sesshomaru growled in response. _I would like to see him try and cart all of these pathetic humans up here...  
_  
Sango looked below to see the person, presumably a man, gaining slightly on Sesshomaru. "Sesshomaru? Is he a youkai?" she asked, knowing his astute and accurate nose would be able to pick it up.  
  
"He is a youkai but I am not sure what breed. He has masked it," The Inuyoukai replied and continued to climb. Miroku sighed and grasped Kagome's hand. She pried her eyes opened to see him smiling reassuringly at her.  
  
"Are you afraid, Kagome?" He asked gently. She nodded and closed her eyes again.  
  
"I'm going to fall," she whispered, closing her eyes and relaxing once again into her mode of transportations silky white hair.  
  
"No you won't. Sesshomaru won't allow it," Miroku answered her, giving her hand a light squeeze. "We're almost to the top. You should keep your eyes open. It's a beautiful view."  
  
Kagome let out a shuddering breath and nodded, her chocolate orbs opening and observing the surrounding area. It was lovely. The sun was shining off of the wide expanse of ocean, the breeze blowing a crisp salty smell into her nose. "You're right."  
  
"I most always am," Miroku chuckled.  
  
"I doubt that," Sango interjected, giggling with Kagome.  
  
"Will you cease your incessant jabber? I am trying to get you all and myself to the top of this very steep and very dangerous cliff," Sesshomaru barked, silence following. "Thank you," he growled somewhat sarcastically.  
  
Upon reaching the top, Naraku promptly yanked Kagome from off of Sesshomaru's back, keeping a tight grip on her arm so she would not run away. Sango was next but Naraku gave orders for her to be carried by Sesshomaru. "Miroku, you shall stay here."  
  
"Here? What ever for?" The young man asked, perplexity twitching at his dark brows and creasing his forehead.  
  
"If that youkai makes it to the top, you know what to do," He stated, tossing his slave a staff with rings of gold on the end. "If he falls, leave him to rot in hell."  
  
Miroku nodded, his fingers gripping his all too familiar staff. With this weapon of destruction, he was unstoppable. He had trained day and night with it and was thoroughly used to any situation he might have encountered. He watched as Kagome, Sango and Sesshomaru faded into the distance, the hanyou Naraku leading the way. He was ready for this youkai. Naraku's plan would be flawless. It was either that, or loose his chance at freedom.  
  
_Freedom..._ The word had a special twist... It was what he had never known... Free... To be free to love and hate... To be free to take Sango and marry her... To...  
  
Miroku shook his head. He needed to concentrate for the upcoming battle. He peered over the edge of the cliff, seeing that the youkai had come closer. He was dressed in strange clothing, a cloak and thick deerskin pants. His face was hidden and he could not very well make out any major detail about him. All he had to do now was wait... Wait for the youkai to make it to the top... Then, he would battle...  
  
**PART TWO**  
  
**_Chapter Eight:_**  
  
A half an hour passed and Miroku was still sitting, shining his staff with the torn part of his kimono. He let out an impatient sigh and stood, once again leaning over to look at the youkai who was now only feet from the top. "Um, it might be a bit to ask but could you hurry it up?"  
  
The youkai whose face was unidentifiable looked up, his eyes bewildered. "Why?" He asked, his annoyance and wonder evident in his gruff tenor voice.  
  
"Well, since you haven't fallen yet, I'm supposed to kill you when you get up here. If you want, I could help you, my friend," Miroku explained. He hid his staff behind his back, observing his approaching opponent.  
  
"Well, I don't know. Why would I accept your help if you're just going to kill me_, friend_?" The stranger replied, slightly amused but all the same sounding irritated and aloof.  
  
"Hm, good question..." The young man muttered, his hands going to hide in his sleeves as he looked down at the youkai. "Well, since you are now only an arms reach away, if I promised not to kill you would you accept my assistance?"  
  
"I've only been able to trust one person in my who whole life and it sure as hell wasn't you. Sorry, I can't help you. You'll just have to wait until I get up there which might take a while, seeing that my arms and legs have cramped in this position," came the strained response. Miroku sighed. He wanted to get this battle on. He was craving the fight.  
  
"Is there anything else I can do to make you trust me?" Miroku asked, his persistence winning a low growl from the stranger who was gripping the Cliffs of Death as they spoke back and forth.  
  
"Nothing that I can think of," was the blunt and tired response. Miroku shook his head, hoping that wouldn't have to come to this.  
  
"I swear, with all of my heart, on the grave of my dear sweet mother Koharu that I will not kill you unless we wage in battle," He gripped his fists, anger welling up in his chest as memories and residences of bitterness resurfaced. He saw her as she was murdered. He saw the helpless and betrayed look in her eyes when her blood was spilled all over the ground and yet; he was powerless to help her.  
  
His gaze now shifted to the youkai who was at the moment observing him. After a pregnant silence between the two of them, the stranger nodded. "You'll have to pull me up, I need to stretch my joints." Miroku smiled and reached down, yanking with all of his strength when he felt the youkai grip his offered hands. "Thanks," came the reply as the mysterious demon stretched and popped his joints back into place. He leaned back and his lower back snapped, letting out a powerful crack. "Oooh..." He mumbled. "That's going to hurt tomorrow. Now then," The youkai turned to Miroku, looking slightly fatigued but stood in a battle stance anyway. "You said something about a battle?"  
  
"Would you like to rest for a bit? Now that you are up here, I see that I'm not in that much of a hurry," Seeing his opponent shrug and sit down, he joined him on the ground, leaning back on his elbows. After another uncomfortable silence, Miroku cleared his throat, drawing the stranger's attention back to him. "By any chance you wouldn't happen to have strange but beautiful blue shapes up and down your arms would you?"  
  
The youkai next to him blinked a few times. "That's a really strange way to start talking to someone that you don't know... But, since you asked," The stranger rolled up his sleeves up to his elbows, turning them in all directions, revealing firm and toned flesh, but not the blue shapes Miroku was talking about. He nodded to his future opponent, resting his chin on his hand.  
  
"I'm sorry about that it's just, my mother was slaughtered by a youkai with strange blue markings and I've been out to avenge and get revenge," He chuckled lightly, feeling sheepish. His eyes looked over at his future opponent's, seeing that he might actually be listening and continued on.  
  
"I loved my mother. She was all that I had. When I was nine years old, I remember her starting to court a youkai with those strange blue markings. I had bad feelings about him from the start but, to please my mother, I went along with his schemes. I respected him but something about him always had me on my guard. He knew I was always watching him. To try and 'strengthen' our bond because he was planning on marrying my mother, he taught me to defend myself and attack with this staff," he held up the staff that had been sitting in his lap.  
  
"He had one of his own and naturally, he was much better than I but that did not stop me from wanting to be rid of him. One night, the adults assumed I was sleeping but I was peeking in on their conversation and I heard him tell her that the only way he would wed her is if she sent me to another family. Naturally, my mother refused to part with me, and the youkai was furious. His rage took hold and there was a positively terrifying red gleam in his eyes when he slit her throat, her blood splashing all over the room. I was stunned but I quickly went to grab my staff and challenged him, hoping to put him in his place. Where he belonged. In hell."  
  
"Let me guess. He beat you without even trying," The stranger said with an ironic hint in his voice. Miroku nodded, letting out a sigh of shame. "I can see scars and the imperfections in your joints from where you were cut and from where bones were broken."  
  
"How can you-"  
  
"I'm a youkai. I can see these things," His opponent chuckled. Miroku stood, stretching slightly and inhaling deeply. "So, you're been in the revenge business. What are you planning to do make him have a painfully satisfying death?"  
  
"When I see him, I'll draw my staff and make this face," He placed his staff in front of him, his body poised and ready for any sudden movement. His face was solemn and intense; his violet eyes were narrowed. If his opponent would have been a woman, the look in his eyes could have been desire or seduction. "Then, I will say, I am Miroku, son of Koharu, the woman whose heart and life you stole. Prepare to die a slow and agonizingly painful death while the satisfaction plays across my face for only your eyes. Come. Attack me." He laughed along with the stranger. "I certainly hope my statement is true. It took me a while to ponder that up while I have been training in secret for all of these years."  
  
"I see. Well, I suppose I'm ready to fight when you are," He finished, reaching up his hand and Miroku helped him to his feet. "I hope you find that bastard someday. He deserves what's coming to him." Miroku's opponent stretched once more before cracking his knuckles.  
  
"You are a very good listener. I am sorry that I will have to end your profession at this time," Miroku stated, his mouth forming into a confident smirk as his staff when into position.  
  
"You are a smooth talker. I can't wait to see what you've got," The youkai replied just as cheekily, his own mouth perking at one side as his eyes flashed with anticipation.  
  
"_Attack_," Miroku cried.

.  
  
**Ending Writer's Corner:**  
  
Lo siento (Sorry) for the cliffhanger ending and not putting the fight scene in here! I guess I put Miroku's past in here beforehand and, you know how writing can be. I PROMISE! NEXT CHAPTER THEY WILL FIGHT! (Oh yeah! Did you like Miroku's line? That's instead of, Hallo. My name is Indigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die... That is my favvvvorite part. Tee hee :P) Do you guys like what I did with Miroku's past? I know it's a little different but different is good right?

Oh yes and...

**_HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!!!!!!!!!_**


	9. Chapter Eight

_Writer's Corner:_  
  
Kami-sama! It's amazing how much you guys like this story... Well the majority of you guys! Tee hee ;) I'm so excited! This story was a hit on Mediaminer too. I'm going on 5,000 hits and 50 reviews there! Well, enjoy this chapter! Another one should be posted later today as well since their both kind of medium length.

.

**_Previously..._**  
  
"You are a very good listener. I am sorry that I will have to end your profession at this time," Miroku stated, his mouth forming into a confident smirk as his staff when into position.  
  
"You are a smooth talker. I can't wait to see what you've got," The youkai replied just as cheekily, his own mouth perking at one side as his eyes flashed with anticipation.  
  
"Attack," Miroku cried.

. . .   
  
**_Chapter Eight:  
_**  
The youkai lunged at Miroku, hoping to catch him off guard on his upper body but the young man was well prepared. He fought him off with his staff, sending him backwards. His opponent did a back flip to regain his balance and got low in a crouching position, the ##### smirk still evident on his face.  
  
"Not bad," He said with mock complementation and stood up again. "Now it's your turn." Miroku's eyes narrowed and he, with very well controlled speed, thrust his staff forward in many directions at once, creating somewhat of an illusion. Luckily the masked youkai had better senses than that. It would have rendered any normal human unconscious but not him.  
  
Miroku's opponent starting falling back a little, the staff coming awfully close to striking him as he still attempted to ward him off. He was coming awfully close to the edge of the Cliffs of Death and he looked back to verify that. "You are very skilled," He said in a pent up voice as he was blocking his face.  
  
"Thank you. Being angry and wanting revenge has helped me," Miroku replied, his cheeks and mouth set in a naughty grin. This was almost too easy but he could not complain. Who could best him after all of his hard work?  
  
"Yes, I can tell," The youkai wheezed and dodged an incoming thrust from the staff. "But, there is something that you don't know my friend," He added, all movement stopping on both sides.  
  
"What is that?" Miroku asked.  
  
"Got you!" The youkai laughed and grabbed for the young man's staff, snapping it in two with now effort at all. Miroku gawked, looking at the splintered pieces of wood in his opponent's hands.  
  
"THAT was dirty!" He shouted and glared. The youkai shrugged minutely.  
  
"Don't tell me that that is your only mode of combat. If it is, you're very boring," The man who was disguised shot back.  
  
"It's not," Miroku replied stiffly.  
  
"Oh, good," With that, the youkai started to circle around Miroku as if teasing and taunting him. Daring him to attack. "Come on now. Don't be such a sore loser," He chided.  
  
"I _never_ lose!" The young man shouted. "You're unarmed, are you not?"  
  
"Yeah," The youkai answered, keeping his guard up. "What is it to you?"  
  
"This!" Miroku, faster than the youkai could comprehend, (A/N: it must have been pretty fast if it didn't register to youkai vision...) drew a dagger and cut the strings to his opponent's pants. The stranger, not understanding what had just happened, crossed his arms and eyed the young man skeptically.  
  
"What did that do?" The youkai asked in husky amusement. Miroku only chuckled. "What's so funny?"  
  
"I know something that you don't know, friend," The young man said through smothered laughter. "You'll never get a woman if you keep wearing underclothes such as though. They've long gone out of style."  
  
"Huh?" Looking down, Miroku's opponent gasped and re-tied his pants, fixing a look of death towards him. "You said what I did was dirty. You just cut my trousers down!"  
  
"All is fair in love and war," Miroku replied, clearly and thoroughly amused.  
  
"Who says we're in love?" The youkai barked and without holding back, attacked Miroku, rendering him to the ground in one graceful movement.  
  
"Well," Miroku said, short of breath because there was a very built youkai straddling his midsection. "I suppose you could say we are in love because of our compromising position, except it would never work between us. For alas, I am a human and you are a youkai..." He finished with dramatic tones. The youkai rolled his eyes.  
  
"I didn't really want to kill you but I don't want you following me so," The youkai started to say and adjusted his grip on the young man's neck, "no hard feelings, _friend_." He pressed the pressure point on Miroku's neck and watched as the man fell unconscious. Standing and dusting himself off, the youkai sniffed the air, locking onto the scents of a very strong Inuyoukai, two human women and one half-breed.  
  
He started on the trail with great speed, his mouth set in a determined line.

.  
  
**_Ending Writer's Corner:_**  
  
Sorry for such a short chapter. I'll put another one up later today, most likely. Well, until next chapter! Oh yeah! How was the scene? Did you like how I twisted in around? Lol... I'm such a goof!


	10. Chapter Nine

_Writer's Corner:  
_  
Here's another chapter for ya! Here's a little insight (Sesshomaru vs. Unidentified Youkai). Ooh! ¿Es muy interesante, no? Well, ONTO THE STORY!

.

_Previously..._  
  
_"I didn't really want to kill you but I don't want you following me so," The youkai started to say and adjusted his grip on the young man's neck, "no hard feelings, friend." He pressed the pressure point on Miroku's neck and watched as the man fell unconscious. Standing and dusting himself off, the youkai sniffed the air, locking onto the scents of a very strong Inuyoukai, two human women and one half-breed.  
  
He started on the trail with great speed, his mouth set in a determined line._

.  
  
**_Chapter Nine:_**

. . .

Naraku sat, hidden by a mass of boulders, watching to see if Miroku was to be coming at any recent time. _What is taking him so long?_ His thoughts came to a screeching halt when he saw a black figure wearing tan approaching. He let out a stream of vicious oaths that made Sesshomaru's head turn to look at him. "Miroku was defeated apparently. Blast him for a worthless human!" He snarled and then turned, eying Sango and Kagome. Sango was sitting quietly while Kagome was bound and gagged, her eyes covered. She struggled and made various sounds of frustration as she attempted to free herself.  
  
"Sesshomaru, stay here and fight the youkai. I shall take Sango and the princess with me," he told the Inuyoukai, hefting Kagome into his arms cradle style and then pulled Sango along by a rope leash he had made (A/N: he's treating her like a dog!).  
  
"How would you like him slaughtered? Shall I cut him into tiny pieces or should I leave in one piece?" The tall and deftly beautiful Inuyoukai asked, amusement tinting his deep baritone voice.  
  
"Don't toy around with him. Just kill him and catch up to me when you are through," Naraku replied promptly, his voice harboring no argument or compromise. Sesshomaru growled lowly in his chest as he watched the hanyou dragging Sango along and carrying Kagome in a very unsafe way.  
  
_When this is all over with that half-breed will die by my hands, I swear it,_ he thought and slowly went to go hide, masking his presence and his scent from the approaching youkai. He smirked. _If he murdered Miroku with no trouble at all then he will be a fine opponent.  
_  
The youkai in disguise slowed his running to a walking pace, his eyes scanning the area and his nose smelling for any trace of evidence that the creatures he was following had been there. They had in fact, probably about ten minutes before. He was about to stride after the trail or scent they had left when his ears caught a very quiet whooshing sound from behind him. Taking heed to his instincts, he ducked and rolled, kicking up in the air when he saw a white blur in his vision. He contacted something solid and sent it hurdling backwards. He leapt off the ground into a fighting stance, his eyes narrowed as he inspected the youkai who had attacked him.  
  
"Ah. I did not suspect that you would sense my presence until it was too late," Sesshomaru said emotionlessly, his stone façade in place.  
  
"Really now? I almost missed it. Lucky for me I've got good ears," The mysterious youkai in disguise replied, smirking a little. He was slightly short of breath.  
  
"Yes, I realize that. You've also done a marvelous job of masking your scent. Only Inuyoukai are able to do so," The Inuyoukai said in a calculating manner, realizing that with superb hearing and his technique of hiding his aura and scent proved that the masked youkai was indeed an Inuyoukai also.  
  
"Yeah, I suppose we are," The stranger replied. "So what're we going to do now?"  
  
"My orders were to kill you without toying with you, but we both know that there would be no notion of entertainment if we were to battle in that fashion," Sesshomaru supplied, a small wind picking up sending his pure white locks in all directions.  
  
"Yeah, I see where that would be rather boring. So... Let's go," The Inuyoukai in disguise answered, a fangy smirk appearing at his lips as he motioned for Sesshomaru to make the first move.  
  
So the battle began, Inuyoukai against Inuyoukai. Blinding speed against blinding speed. Skill against skill. Sesshomaru had not expected this youkai to be his equal in every aspect of demonic power. He was nearly outraged but he contained himself. _This youkai is toying with ME... Not the other way around..._ he thought angrily as he discovered that conclusion. "You will never defeat me. I have slain sixty mortals at one time," Sesshomaru chuckled as his eyes narrowed in blood lust. Yes, he was going to make sure he was going to slaughter this youkai, even if it meant he would have to revert to his true form for aid.  
  
"Well, I'm not a mortal am I?" His opponent returned, laughing and disappeared from Sesshomaru's vision all together. Sesshomaru looked around swiftly, unable to detect anything until two strong arms wrapped around his throat in a death lock. He gasped for air, his eyes gleaming red as he scratched and clawed at his opponent.  
  
_Impossible! Impossible... _The proud Inuyoukai thought as his world went black. The youkai in disguise dropped Sesshomaru, turning him over. He was still alive, that was for sure.  
  
"He's going to be really pissed off when he wakes up..." He muttered as he started to run towards the staling trail of scents. He was getting closer. Soon, he would have what he had come for.

.

_Ending Writer's Corner:_  
  
How'd you like that chapter? The face-off between Sesshomaru and the Masked Inuyoukai! Lime content the next chapter. There's your warning! 


	11. Chapter Ten

_Writer's Corner:  
_  
All right folks! We're getting close to the moment of truth. But first...  
  
Who is the mysterious youkai in disguise?  
  
What is he after?  
  
Is he hot or not?  
  
Have fun pondering that (even though most of you already know the out come of what is going to happen)  
  
Major fluff and a little bit of lime up ahead so buckle your seatbelts! ;)

.  
  
_Previously...  
  
"Well, I'm not a mortal am I?" His opponent returned, laughing and disappeared from Sesshomaru's vision all together. Sesshomaru looked around swiftly, unable to detect anything until two strong arms wrapped around his throat in a death lock. He gasped for air, his eyes gleaming red as he scratched and clawed at his opponent.  
_  
Impossible! Impossible... _The proud Inuyoukai thought as his world went black. The youkai in disguise dropped Sesshomaru, turning him over. He was still alive, that was for sure.  
  
"He's going to be really pissed off when he wakes up..." He muttered as he started to run towards the staling trail of scents. He was getting closer. Soon, he would have what he had come for._

_. . .  
_  
_**Chapter Ten:  
**_  
"Damn it, Sango," Naraku cursed at the young woman and he shoved her back. She hugged herself, shuddering a bit. "What is the matter with you today? You're not submissive."  
  
Tears stung in the young woman's eyes. She should have been strong. She should have. "I don't think what you are doing is right. To Lady Kagome, I mean," she whispered, dressing herself. Naraku eyed her smugly, his crimson orbs narrowing in malice.  
  
"And what are you going to do to stop me? I have a war to create, my dear, and there is no chance that slaves like you will even come close to stopping me from doing so," He shot at her, his deep voice cool and harsh.  
  
"Naraku! Let me go!" Another feminine voice rang out. Kagome struggled to free her hands and legs but couldn't. The hanyou turned to look at her and then rolled his eyes. "Untie me you malevolent bastard!"  
  
Two dark eyebrows rose slightly at her language but he chuckled in perverse amusement. "What luck. I have two young women that I can have my fill of lust with and they are sitting here, ordering me around like I would listen to them," Naraku mused, his hand tangling roughly in Sango's hair. She winced and moaned slightly at the tugging at her scalp but it ceased quickly when a large but strong hand grasped Naraku around the wrist in the blink of an eye and hurled him backwards.  
  
"Get out of here!" The youkai in disguise yelled in her face, shoving her along for emphasis. "What are you? Stupid? Run while you can!" Nodding dumbly, Sango got to her feet and took off. Naraku let out a stream of curses and while the opposing youkai was freeing his Sango, he pulled Kagome into his arms and pressed one of his dangerous and miasmas tentacles to her soft throat.  
  
The mysterious youkai whirled and saw the picture, freezing instantaneously. Eerie laughter emitted from deep in Naraku's chest. The unknown creature took a step forward but ceased moving again when he heard Kagome inhale sharply from the added pressure to the tentacle at her throat.  
  
"If you continue to move she will be dead before you can even reach me, youkai," The hanyou chuckled, crudely burying his nose in her soft raven locks. The disguised man's hands curled into fists at his actions, a low growl escaped his lips.  
  
"Stop it..." She managed but could not struggle to emphasize her point for if she did, she would be done for. "Help..." she whispered.  
  
"Let her go," The youkai said in a husky voice that booked no argument but Naraku would have none of it.  
  
"I don't think so. I kidnapped her so I could make war between Gilder and Florin, stranger. If you want a princess, go and find your own," He finished, his red eyes fixating on the youkai's face, gauging any reaction whatsoever. Nothing surfaced.  
  
"What about a compromise?" The mysterious Inuyoukai asked, annoyance starting to weave into his voice.  
  
"Compromise what? I lack your skill on the battlefield save for my tolerance of miasma," Naraku replied.  
  
"Miasma can kill anyone. Why do you consider yourself special?" The stranger questioned, his voice now holding an air of wonder.  
  
"I can last longer than you, I assure you," Naraku shot smugly and arrogantly. This youkai thought that he could withstand miasma longer than he? He must have been joking.  
  
"We will see," The youkai in disguise, replied smoothly with confidence.  
  
Kagome had listened to the entire conversation. Someone was going to die. She felt herself being hefted and placed on the ground by Naraku, probably a distance from where they were going to test their poison tolerances. She could not see but she knew that something was going to be terribly graphic so she was thankful for her blindfold.  
  
"We will use my miasma to test this fact. I will insert two fingers in my chest and two in yours," Naraku said, his voice filled with amusement. "Whoever lives after a while of the miasma treatment has claims on the princess."  
  
"All right. May the best youkai win," The mysterious youkai replied, wincing as Naraku dug his claws into his chest a bit and watched the pained expression go across his own face when he inserted his claws.  
  
"I plan to," Naraku shot, his eyes narrowing as he held gaze with his opponent. Then, he let loose his miasma. The purple liquid flowed from his fingers into their bodies, decaying their insides. Both of them could feel it slightly. No emotion played across the youkai's face as the minutes passed. Naraku could feel his breathing heave slightly. How long was he to keep this up? "Has... It been... long enough..." Naraku growled through clenched teeth as his vision started to go blurry.  
  
"Y...yes..." His opponent whispered weakly, his knees heaving slightly. With that, Naraku withdrew as fast as he could and pulled himself to stand straight up, so not to show that he was in serious pain. "I win," The audacious youkai whispered making Naraku snarl.  
  
"What do you mean, you've won'?" The hanyou roared but then his eyes widened, and his body melted into a purple pool of liquid. The disguised youkai looked down at it, spit in it, and then jumped over it, running over to where Kagome was bound and tied up.  
  
Light flashed in Kagome's eyes for a brief second when the blindfold was removed, making her squint. Her rescuer then hauled her to her feet. She looked him over, unable to see any details of his appearance. All she knew was that he was a great deal taller than her and he was lean and muscular. "How did you survive that?" She asked as he started to pull her along by her arm at a very rigorous pace.  
  
"I was injected with a poison antidote on one of my many travels, princess," He shot back, his voice neutral and somewhat cool. "Come on, we have to keep moving," he added gruffly.  
  
Kagome made a small sound of disappointment which made the youkai's head whirl to glare at her. She quickly composed herself, attempting to keep up with him although her legs felt like they were going to collapse.

. . .  
  
"Lord Koga! They've gone this way!" A slightly aged youkai with vivid blue eyes called to the young Wolf youkai lord. He observed the area once again, noting the smell of youkai although it was disguised and a scent that he could not identify. _Why do I recognize such an odor coming from a human?_ He thought, catching up to his lord.  
  
"Damn it all! How did she get taken away without my notice, Akira?" Koga griped as he and his long trusted advisor tracked down the trail of scents.  
  
"You let her ride off on her own, just like I had told you not to," The elder youkai replied.  
  
"Damn... Well, it seems that the man went off that way," Koga muttered, his eyes going to the east, "But the guy who defeated him went off that way..." His blue eyes now shifted north and his nose caught the stale smell of Kagome. "We've got to find her!" He shouted and took off in that direction, hoping to find his fiancée.

. . .  
  
The two travelers arrived at a place where there was a huge landfall that spanned down about 80 feet. It was very frightening to look at and Kagome didn't like the change of scenery. It was very uncomfortable, running and being insulted by a stranger in a dangerous place like this.  
  
"Sit down," He ordered, shoving her onto the ground so she could rest. Kagome rolled a bit but then came to a stop, glaring daggers at him.  
  
"Once Lord Koga finds me, you despicable youkai, he's going to have you cut into a million pieces and then fed to his wolves," She spat acidly at him, watching as he chuckled mockingly at her.  
  
"Hallow threats. Do you expect me to believe that your lover would be able to do anything like that to me?" He said between laughs but he growled when she stood, reached up and slapped.  
  
"I never said I loved him you supercilious-" She began to gasp but cringed in pain when he clutched her around the wrist, turning with controlled strength.  
  
"Maybe you cannot love. Have you ever thought of that, wench?" He whispered in her ear, his voice husky and cold. Kagome shuddered quickly but remembered she was still upset.  
  
"I was in love once but he was killed shortly after. You have NEVER known what I have known!" She screamed at him but was rewarded when his hand contacted with her cheek. She clamped her lips together, muffling a sob as she contained her tears.  
  
"Don't speak about my life unless you've been given permission or else you'll find yourself in a whole lot more pain then just that simple slap," He warned but quickly whirled around. "Something is coming..."  
  
"Yes, I know," Kagome seethed when he let go of her. He was too distracted to notice anything and she felt her anger explode. "The fire's of hell are coming for you!" she shouted and pushed him as hard as she could, watching with satisfaction as he rolled ruggedly down the steep hill.  
  
"YOU MORONNNNN!" He yelled as he continued to roll down the hill, his mask flying off revealing long silvery hair. Kagome froze. That voice... the way he said it... That hair! HE WAS ALIVE!!!  
  
"Inuyasha!" She gasped and dove forward, toppling after him, passing him up as he finally pulled the brakes for his own body. She skidded to a stop near the bottom, feeling lightheaded and strangely upbeat. She inhaled raggedly, her back aching and her head hurting slightly but she felt joyous. He was alive! She heard rustling next to her and she saw a blurry figure approach her and pulled her into his arms.  
  
"What the hell did you do that for you stupid girl?!" He yelled in her face, his amber eyes flashing.  
  
"YOU yelled at ME, Mister-" She broke off when she gave him a closer look. She observed his features but there was something different about him. His voice was deeper... He was taller... His doggy ears were gone! She reached up and traced the markings that now adorned his cheeks and his pointed ears that were on each side of his head. "What... what happened to you?" she whispered as she watched him lean into her hand, growling mutely.  
  
"On one of the explorations, I snuck away from the crew while we were in search of treasure. I came across a pink orb called the Shikon no Tama. Markings on the wall said that it granted the finder one wish, may it be evil or good. I wished that I could become a full fledged youkai so I could come looking for you without any trouble or physical needs," He replied, his eyes expressing how much he had missed her. "You look older, Kagome," he whispered, tracing her face gently and running his fingers through her hair that had grown longer and had tamed to be much softer than before.  
  
Kagome held his face in her hands, tears brimming in her eyes. He was here, and alive! "Inuyasha... I've missed you so much," she said shakily, tears spilling over her cheeks. Inuyasha claimed her lips in a brutal kiss, his tongue corroding her mouth, remembering her feel.  
  
Kagome moaned into his mouth and their tongues began to make love. Her hands were lost into the shirt he was wearing, tracing his accentuated musculature and his firm body. Instinctively, Inuyasha crawled between her legs, breaking away from her mouth panting. Kagome was short of breath and dizzy as she felt him kiss a trail down her neck to the opening of her kimono.  
  
"Kagome..." he whispered, his voice husky with love and lust. He had wanted nothing but her for the past two years. He had ached to be with her.  
  
"Yes..." she replied, ecstasy high in her voice. She felt Inuyasha gently side her kimono top off and the rest, his large hands massaging her soft flesh sending shots of pure pleasure through her.  
  
"I love you Kagome," He told her, his amber eyes dark as he slid his own clothes off. "I want you to become my mate..."  
  
"Always Inuyasha. I'm yours," she whispered in his ear and they made love to each other, on the floor of the ravine. Two lovers now reunited again.

.  
  
_Ending Writer's Corner:_  
  
Wow... Maybe it got REALLY lime-y at the end. Woops... But you can't really complain. I mean this IS the reuniting of lovers bound under the spell of true love, right? REVIEW! Was their scene okay? Did I make it romantic enough? (I apologize for the strong lime guys! Don't kill me!)


	12. Chapter Eleven Parts One and Two

_Writer's Corner:_  
  
YAY! My version actually might be coming around! WAHOO! Also, I apologize for having Inuyasha loose his puppy ears but it was for a good cause! He was able to find Kagome! Isn't that what matters in this story? Also, I did change the scene slightly. I know in the movie all that Buttercup and Wesley but Inuyasha and Kagome aren't Buttercup and Wesley now are they? (bobs eyebrows suggestively) Oooh... I'm feeling kinky waves all of a sudden... All right! Also, I'm sorry for not updating right away!!! Now onto the chapter!  
  
Oh yeah! Another bonus for you! Since I'm going to church camp from Thursday to Monday I'm combining another two chapters for you!

.  
  
_Previously..._  
  
_"Kagome..." he whispered, his voice husky with love and lust. He had wanted nothing but her for the past two years. He had ached to be with her.  
  
"Yes..." she replied, ecstasy high in her voice. She felt Inuyasha gently side her kimono top off and the rest, his large hands massaging her soft flesh sending shots of pure pleasure through her.  
  
"I love you Kagome," He told her, his amber eyes dark as he slid his own clothes off. "I want you to become my mate..."  
  
"Always Inuyasha. I'm yours," she whispered in his ear and they made love to each other, on the floor of the ravine. Two lovers now reunited again._

_. . .  
_  
**_Chapter Eleven: Part One_**  
  
Kagome's eyes slid open when she felt a cool breeze slide across her heated body, her hair was strewn in all directions and she felt a strong arm looped around her waist. She shifted slightly, groaning when her body ached and a quiet gasp escaped her lips when she felt a small nip on the edge of her jaw. It had happened. It wasn't a dream.  
  
"You're finally up," A husky voice chuckled into her ear in amusement as she felt his warm lips trail down her naked arm. "Kami-sama... You're so beautiful..." He whispered and ran his hand along her leg.  
  
"Inuyasha," she scolded without fire behind her words. She turned slowly to face him, receiving the kiss that he was giving to her. "What happens now? I mean, I was betrothed to Lord Koga but this mark you've left on my shoulder would prove otherwise..." she said running her hands through his silky silver hair.  
  
"I say we get the hell out of here. He's coming," Inuyasha growled, dressing himself quickly. Kagome forced herself into her clothes, straightening up so she could look more presentable.

. . .  
  
Koga stood at the top of the hill, his eyes making out two figures that were running along the ravine of the slope. _Damn it all! He's got my woman!_ He thought angrily when a strange smell wafted through his nose. Anger flooded through his veins and his eyes glowed red.  
  
"My lord?" Akira asked, sensing his sudden change of emotions when he himself found what had angered him so. "Good Kami-sama..." He whispered, seeing the rage at the betraying scent of sex.  
  
"He's BEDDED my WOMAN! My fiancée!" Koga roared, watching in pure hatred as the Inuyoukai ran along with Kagome into the Swamps of Fire.  
  
"They've escaped, my lord. What will you have us do?" The older youkai asked his lord calmly.  
  
"Let them be I suppose but let's be ready for them by the exit. I want to kill that bastard for touching my Kagome!" Koga replied harshly, running off in a different direction.

. . .  
  
"Inuyasha! We're going to die in here!" Kagome whimpered, gripping his strong hand tighter as they both cautiously walked through the Swamps of Fire. Her feet slipped and slid into a slick of mud, making her loose her balance. She gasped and nearly fell when a strong arm caught her. Inuyasha flashed her a smile, his fangs showing all the way. An unruly and outrageous blush rose to her cheeks.  
  
"You know, we're not going to get out of here if we keep needing to take breaks because of how aroused you're getting," The Inuyoukai teased in a mocking tone, bringing her against his chest. He pecked her lower lips, his amber eyes flashing once. "It's making me crazy."  
  
"Well I'm terribly sorry. I'll never get aroused or excited for you again," Kagome huffed, storming off ahead.  
  
"I never said that!" Inuyasha shouted at her, shaking his head. Kagome was scowling, not really angry at him, but just playing when she stepped wrong and found herself sucked into a sand dune where there was no oxygen to be found. Inuyasha watched this happen as if he were in slow motion. "####!" He cursed, grabbing something he could use as a lifeline and jumped in after his mate.  
  
The sand was flying in his eyes but Inuyasha did not let that stop him. He was going to find her. His lungs started to burn but he found a delicate hand and it gripped his weakly. With all the strength he could muster, he pulled Kagome onto the bank, coughing and wheezing for air.  
  
Kagome started to cry while she wheezed as sand flowed out in her tears. She buried herself against Inuyasha as they both fought for air. "Kagome... Are you... alright?" The Inuyoukai asked, short of air but his hands were tangling in her hair anyways.  
  
"Y... yes..." she stuttered, burying her face in his chest. "Kami-sama that was scary!" she shrieked when all the air had passed into her lungs.  
  
"That's what I get for traveling with a stupid girl," Inuyasha muttered, scooping her up cradle style.  
  
"I can walk you know," Kagome told him flatly but he shook his head.  
  
"I don't trust you to go off and do something stupid like that again so no. You're not walking," He replied, walking on into the Swamps of Fire, unaware of the eerie yellow eyes that had been watching the entire time.

.  
  
**_Part II:_**  
  
Kagome licked her lips and squeezed her eyes shut as another blast of fire went on around the two of them. Her grip around Inuyasha's neck tightened and she snuggled closer to his body. He stopped telling her about his travels to observe her appearance, and grinned to spite himself at her appearance. Kagome eyes opened slowly and her chocolate orbs were filled with confusion. "What are you laughing at?" she asked.  
  
"You. Don't be scared, you're with me. I'll always protect you," Inuyasha replied, kissing her lips softly and then drew back before they could get lost in each other.  
  
"How do I know that? There are all sorts of bad things in here like fire, vicious rat youkai and quicksand!" Kagome replied, exasperated.  
  
"I don't believe in vicious rat youkai. Nothing can take me down," The Inuyoukai's delicate ear twitched, picking up a very quiet sound in the back round, his amber eyes flashing in all directions defensively. Kagome was about to question him on what was wrong but he put a hand to her mouth when something huge, fat and smelly catapulted onto Inuyasha's back causing him to lose his balance and drop Kagome. She rolled on the forest floor, watching as Inuyasha wrestled with the beast. It was nearly the same size as he was!  
  
"Kagome! Get the hell away from here!" The Inuyoukai yelled at her as he wrestled with the rat, finally getting it in a stranglehold.  
  
"No! I'm not leaving you here!" She shouted in reply, screaming when the rat escaped her mate's grasp and came crawling towards her. "Get back!" she shouted, beating it over the head with a very large piece of wood she found lying behind her. This, of course, did nothing and the rat youkai was now very angry. "Help!" She whispered when she slipped in another mud puddle, landing right on her caboose in front of the deadly rat youkai.  
  
Inuyasha lunged forward; digging his claws into the rat's back, blood spurting everywhere as they rolled along the ground, Inuyasha's arms now strangling the rat youkai once again. He grunted when the beast struggled against him but forced his grip, letting out a breath of relief when the creature's movement ceased and he could not make out any heartbeat. With that, he dropped the youkai and staggered over to where Kagome was making her home in the mud. He offered her two bloody hands to stand but realized how covered in blood they were.  
  
"Um... Excuse me a minute," He told her; going to a nearby puddle of water to wash as much of the blood off as he could, then he helped her up. "Are you alright?" He asked her gently, his voice somewhat strained.  
  
"I'm okay but look at you! You're bleeding all over your chest, Inuyasha!" Kagome's chocolate orbs widened in worry as she went to touch them but two strong hands caught them on their way there.  
  
"I'll be fine. I'll heal in an hour. These are just nicks, not huge flesh wounds," He told her surely, observing her as she nodded.  
  
"All right," She replied as they continued to walk along. "So why did you run away from your group at sea, Inuyasha? I thought that if you were caught, you would be killed," Kagome asked, resuming the topic that they were on before the rat youkai attacked them.  
  
"The captain did almost kill me. For the first time, I was actually afraid for my life. After a short time though, I realized that with me, he was just spluttering mindless babble. He wanted to train me so I could take over my own crew because since I was half a demon at the time, I had strength and lots of potential to become something great," He replied, his amber eyes flashing in memory.  
  
"I see," Kagome answered as she soaked in what had happened over the two years that she had spent believing he was dead. "So they started to train you?"  
  
"Yes and I did all that I could to be the strongest. I wasn't doing it so I could be the captain and gain all the riches and wealth in the world. I was doing it so I could come back to find you and have no trouble with opposition," Inuyasha's lips brushed against her forehead, drawing a flush from Kagome's cheeks. "I also was educated. I learned to read and write and to speak properly but, when I was going to write you, it was the perfect opportunity to escape," The Inuyoukai added. "Then, when I came here, I found out you were engaged. I was angry at first, not knowing what to believe so I came to find you, to know the truth." His amber eyes fixated on her chocolate orbs as they stopped walking.  
  
"Are you upset with the truth?" Kagome asked him, a teasing smile forming on her lips playfully.  
  
"Not at all," He replied, kissing her ####### the mouth, tangling his fingers in her hair. Kagome made a small mewling sound against his mouth and kept a firm grip around his strong neck. "Oh, by the way," He whispered, breaking away from the young woman. "The exit is right there," he finished, pointing to the left.  
  
"Really? Kami-sama! We made it out of there alive!" Kagome rejoiced, running towards the exit, Inuyasha high on her tail. They burst out into the open and Kagome caught Inuyasha's face, kissing him passionately. His tongue slid in to probe her mouth but he stopped suddenly, his gaze shooting forward in disgust.  
  
"I believe you have something that is mine, whelp," a husky voice that was filled with anger spoke.


	13. Chapter Twelve

_Writer's Corner:  
_  
Hey! I just got back from camp! I had the best time and I was totally free of my troubles! I guess camp does that to you, especially church camp for those of you who go sometimes ;). Well! ONTO THE CHAPTER!

.  
  
_Previously...  
  
"Not at all," He replied, kissing her ####### the mouth, tangling his fingers in her hair. Kagome made a small mewling sound against his mouth and kept a firm grip around his strong neck. "Oh, by the way," He whispered, breaking away from the young woman. "The exit is right there," he finished, pointing to the left.  
  
"Really? Kami-sama! We made it out of there alive!" Kagome rejoiced, running towards the exit, Inuyasha high on her tail. They burst out into the open and Kagome caught Inuyasha's face, kissing him passionately. His tongue slid in to probe her mouth but he stopped suddenly, his gaze shooting forward in disgust.  
  
"I believe you have something that is mine, whelp," a husky voice that was filled with anger spoke._

_. . .  
  
**Chapter Twelve:**_  
  
"L-Lord Koga!" Kagome exclaimed at seeing her fiancé. Inuyasha's grip tightened possessively as a low growl emitted from deep in his chest. The wolf youkai approached the two of them, his servants and Akira following.  
  
"Take your filthy hands off of _my_ woman, Inu," Lord Koga spat, reaching forward to take Kagome from his grasp but the Inuyoukai would not have it. He jumped back holding his mate securely. "Kagome, what has transpired here? Did he force himself on you?" The wolf lord demanded from her, watching as her eyes went to the ground.  
  
"No, Lord Koga. I joined with him because I wanted to," She replied, watching the hurt, sadness and fury play through his cerulean eyes. "I'm sorry."  
  
"So this is the youkai you mourned for in your chambers when I tried to comfort you. This is the youkai who..." His hand closed into a fist and he let out a feral growl. "He TOUCHED my woman!" Lord Koga shouted in repressed anger. "Let's kill him!" He finished, signaling for his men to attack.  
  
Inuyasha threw Kagome off to the side as he was attacked from all directions, attempting to keep his guard on all sides. His injuries were not helping him much but they were only effectively making him vulnerable. "Stop this!" She cried, but her voice was not heard. She cleared her throat, thinking of what she could do to save Inuyasha's life. She wouldn't be able to stand it if he went off dead and left her again. "I'll go with you Lord Koga!" She shouted towards the wolf, watching as her words stopped the small battle that had been waging.  
  
"You'll _WHAT_?" Inuyasha barked, standing in shock as hurt played through his amber eyes.  
  
"What was that?" Lord Koga asked as he approached Kagome.  
  
"If you send him back to his ship on the seas and promise not to hurt him anymore, I will go back with you," She answered him, feeling her own chest contract at the upset and betrayed look on her Inuyoukai mate's face.  
  
"You would break off your mating relationship and marry me like all was planned?" The wolf asked as hope shined in the way he was looking at her. Kagome nodded mutely, feeling numb to all emotion. This was for the best, even if it meant she was betraying the man she loved and isolating herself from the world.  
  
"Kagome... Don't do this," Inuyasha pleaded in sadness, feeling defeated. There was no reason to go on now. She was going to be someone else's.  
  
"You heard what she said, Akira. Return this Inu to his ship," Lord Koga said in excitement as he scooped Kagome into his arms. He shot the blue youkai a you know what to do' look and ran back to the castle, his servants following.  
  
"Come with me," Akira stated, eying the saddened Inuyoukai. He was not going to fight anymore. His will to live went with Kagome when she was carried away. Inuyasha sighed and eyed the older youkai skeptically.  
  
"I'm not stupid. I know you're not taking me to my so-called ship,'" He said to him, watching as Akira chuckled.  
  
"So it would seem," The elder youkai replied. Inuyasha looked the blue youkai over, noticing the markings on his body. Akira felt cornered under the gaze of the mysterious stranger but cleared his throat politely. "What is it you're looking for?"  
  
"Oh nothing. I only noticed that you've got blue markings on your wrists and such. There was a young man looking for you. He says he's going to kill you-" Inuyasha broke off when Akira pressed the pressure point on his neck, rendering him unconscious.  
  
_You see too much, youkai,_ Akira thought as he towed Inuyasha towards the Pit of Despair where he would be tortured by all means of weaponry and new aged machinery.

. . .  
  
"I'm very pleased with the decision you've made, Kagome," Lord Koga said as sweetly as his gruff, husky voice would go, "Even if he has already been between your thighs."  
  
Kagome was silent, not meeting her fianc's gaze. What had she done? She was now going to be alone for all eternity. Lord Koga would have her body, but he would not have her soul or her love. She was not meant to be his but that decision was not in her grasp anymore.  
  
_Inuyasha... I'm so sorry... _She thought.  
  
Lord Koga took her hand and stroked it gently. "We are going to be wed in a week. Will that be alright?"  
  
Kagome made no reply. Her chocolate brown eyes were very sad but she attempted to cover it. "I suppose so," she answered after a short time. Lord Koga nodded to her and then left the room, leaving her alone. She sat but then laid back and buried her face in her pillow, muffling her sobs as she cried for Inuyasha.

. . .  
  
Inuyasha's amber eyes blinked open when he felt something jabbing him in his gut. He groaned slightly and attempted to turn over but realized he was tied to a table. His head was the only free part of his body. He leaned up slightly, as much as the ties on his body would allow and saw a short and stubby toad youkai staring at him with bulbous yellow eyes.  
  
"It's about time you woke up!" The toad barked at him. Inuyasha growled at him, silencing him for a moment but then he started to babble a little.  
  
"Where the hell am I?" Inuyasha demanded.  
  
"You're in the pit of despair and we've also tied you to a table with special binding rope so do not attempt to escape. You will only injure yourself in the process," The youkai replied. "Would you have something to eat? Lord Akira wants you in high strength and good health."  
  
"If this place is called the pit of despair then why are they making sure that I am well?" Inuyasha asked, bewildered by the generosity' the youkai was offering.  
  
"We would like to see that you are tortured to death," The toad laughed at him. Inuyasha groaned and leaned his head back on the table. This toad was annoying.

. . .  
  
Sango crept through the woods, alone and slightly afraid. She gripped her cloak tighter around herself as she looked around in search for Sesshomaru. She, Miroku and the Inuyoukai had all escaped from the Gilderian frontier and caught ships back to their native land of Florin, but they had all been separated. The last she had heard of Sesshomaru, he had returned to his home in the forest before Naraku had imprisoned him.  
  
She felt a gust of wind behind her and felt a large hand grasp her arm and turn her around. She was about to scream when she realized it was only the person of her search. "Sesshomaru, I've found you!" She told him in happiness. The Inuyoukai merely nodded and they walked along.  
  
"Tell me. Where is Miroku?" The proud youkai asked.  
  
"I haven't been able to find him. My guesses are that he has drowned himself in sake and entertaining women with his wild stories," The young woman replied.  
  
"I see. Are we going to look for him?" Sesshomaru questioned her, seeing the worried look in her eyes. Sango blushed momentarily but nodded. "What then?"  
  
"I suppose we go by whatever plan Miroku has. I have nothing to do right now," she answered him.  
  
"Neither do I," Sesshomaru stated. He picked her up cradle style and they ran out of the forest, his acute nose tuning into the location of Miroku's scent. It was going to take them a while to find him but they were willing to look for their long-time companion.

. . .  
  
_Ending Writer's Corner:_  
  
I'm singing all the songs we learned at camp! If you couldn't tell, I had a really great time so I'm in a really great mood and I will update even faster! But it depends on the amount of reviews... Sigh... Publicity... Tee hee ;) Just kiddin'! Hooray! Well, I've gotta go and get some sleep! I've got a volleyball camp tomorrow. Luv yas!


	14. Chapter Thirteen

_Writer's Corner:_

Sorry about the late update! I've been out of town for the last week ;)

.

_**Previously...**_  
  
_"Tell me. Where is Miroku?" The proud youkai asked.  
  
"I haven't been able to find him. My guesses are that he has drowned himself in sake and entertaining women with his wild stories," The young woman replied.  
  
"I see. Are we going to look for him?" Sesshomaru questioned her, seeing the worried look in her eyes. Sango blushed momentarily but nodded. "What then?"  
  
"I suppose we go by whatever plan Miroku has. I have nothing to do right now," she answered him.  
  
"Neither do I," Sesshomaru stated. He picked her up cradle style and they ran out of the forest, his acute nose tuning into the location of Miroku's scent. It was going to take them a while to find him but they were willing to look for their long-time companion._

_. . .  
_  
**_Chapter Thirteen:  
_**  
"Leave me alone!" A young man who was well passed overly drunk shouted, swinging his staff blindly at the bartender who was telling him to pay up. "Mow sake!"  
  
"You aven't paid me, sir. You ain't getting no more till you ave paid up," The bartender replied snottily, ordering his boys to throw water on the drunkard going out.  
  
"I'll kiww you all..." He slurred before he belched loudly and was tossed out the door. He slid across the ground on his underside with a loud sigh and a whimper and ran smack into something solid and warm.  
  
"Miroku?" A calm feminine voice asked in worry. Miroku instantly recognized the heavenly angelic voice as Sango's and he grasped her around the legs.  
  
"Human, if you have any desire to find the creature you seek revenge for, you will stop kissing my legs and get your stanching self as far away from them as possible," A deep voice rumbled from the body of the pair of legs he was kissing. Miroku froze and disentangled himself from the Inuyoukai.  
  
_####!_ "Ah... Sesshomuhwoo and Sango... Come to save me?" He hiccupped and got hefted off the ground by his kimono. He grunted and hung limply as Sesshomaru looked him over.  
  
"Before we try and find the youkai he is searching for, we are cleaning him up. He smells like he hasn't bathed in a week," The Inuyoukai spat, shielding his nose with his free hand as he carried Miroku along with them as they went to find the hut they had found for shelter.  
  
"Two," came Miroku's cheeky reply. Sesshomaru growled and nearly dropped him when Sango reminded him that Miroku was not in his right mind and that he had been drinking for the last two weeks. Golden eyes rolled in general irritation as Sango opened the door to the hut. "I'm sweepy..." Miroku mumbled but neither of the two who had rescued him paid any mind.  
  
Sango prepared three tubs of water. One cold, one steaming hot and one lukewarm. She whispered something to Sesshomaru that brought a wolfish smirk to his face. "Miroku," Sango said to the inebriate young man, "This is going to sting and burn," she finished.  
  
"You fink I can'd andle it?" Miroku replied before he let out a scream when Sesshomaru dunked him into the tub of freezing cold water.  
  
Sesshomaru chuckled. "This could be more amusing than I thought!" He said in amusement as he threw Miroku into the scalding hot water.

. . .  
  
"Hey! You!" The toad barked into Inuyasha's ear as if he couldn't hear him. "Wake up you fool!"  
  
"Shut up..." Inuyasha growled through his teeth, shoving his face into the youkai's as best he could from his tied and bound position on the table. Yellow eyes full of fear and stupidity locked with seriously pissed amber one after his words. "You're pissing me off..."  
  
"I had to wake you up, you see. Lord Akira wants to test his newest invention on the strongest specimen. That would be you, Inu," the toad finished, bowing slightly as the blue colored youkai with stripes who Miroku sought revenge from descended down the stairs into the pit of despair.  
  
"Jaken," He said calmly as he came to stand by the table Inuyasha was situated on.  
  
"Yes, m'lord?" Jaken replied, bowing his head more so.  
  
"Go and prepare the machine to setting one," He answered, watching the toad scamper off until he was out of sight.  
  
"Kami-sama... Could you get a more annoying person to tend your victims?" Inuyasha groaned as soon as Jaken had left. Akira let out a chuckle and started to pat the Inuyoukai's chest with a cloth that was doused in a strange smelling liquid.  
  
"He is quite irritating, is he not? Ah, me. I am stuck with him," Akira replied with a rueful grin. Inuyasha's nostrils twitched slightly at the aroma of the fluid on his chest and abdomen.  
  
"Uh... What is that you're putting on me?" Inuyasha asked in slight panic and wonder. What the hell were they going to do to him? _Kagome! How could you do this to me?_ He thought in heartbreak but shoved it all behind him when Akira opened his mouth to tell him.  
  
"This is sensor fluid. When I connect you to my brand new contraption, the Machine of Death will detect where the fluid is on your body, thus draining blood and health from those spots," He replied but both the youkai turned their heads when the sounds of wheels came in. Jaken was rolling in the 'Machine of Death' and brought it behind where Inuyasha's head was on the table.  
  
Inuyasha swallowed but felt confidence that this would not greatly affect him. He had been through worse. Getting himself used to poison, learning how to use his claws from other youkai sailors, the transformation from the shikon no tama after he had made his wish... It wasn't like he couldn't handle pain...  
  
Inuyasha was brought back to reality when he felt cold wires being taped onto his skin on his chest and his abdominal region where the secretion had been applied. Akira cleared his throat as he went to pull the lever to activate the machine. "Please. Be completely honest with me. I have to know if this product will work for torture methods."  
  
"I doubt he'll be able to say anything, m'lord," Jaken chortled but shushed when Inuyasha growled at him.  
  
_Sniveling coward!_ Inuyasha thought in anger. _Now let's get my mind off the present..._ When Akira pulled the lever, he thought of his most happy place. His memories immediately went to when he had made love with Kagome. He could picture her face, at first in pain but then stricken from bliss and ecstasy, crying out his name like a benediction.  
  
That image worked for sometime until he felt stabbing, wrenching, horrible pains go through his body. He almost screamed like a little girl when he felt his body jolt back and forth. He tried to escape but he was paralyzed by the machine for it had dulled his body from any movement except the artificial tosses and wrenches it was doing. _Let me out! Let me out! KAGOME!_ He roared in his mind from the terrible pain and all of a sudden, it stopped.  
  
His amber eyes were wide as he felt his heart start pumping once again. He felt tears well up but he choked them back down. Akira came over to look at the still Inuyoukai with an observant air about him. "So," he asked, "How do you feel, Inu?"  
  
Inuyasha could not form any words in his head. He opened his mouth and a whimper, a purely pup-like whimper, escaped his lips. Akira nodded and a smirk passed over his lips.  
  
"I see." He replied as he and Jaken disconnected the Machine of Death' from Inuyasha's limp body as he continued to whimper like he did as a small child.

. . .  
  
"STOP! STOP IT SESSHOMARU!" Miroku screamed as he was forced into the tub of hot water after a few hours of such treatment. "I'm awake! **I'M AWAKE NOW**!" He added in anger, stopping to hear both Sango and Sesshomaru's amused chuckles.  
  
"Are you ready to eat now? You haven't in two weeks," Sango asked, holding out a bowl of rice for the young man. He eyed it hungrily and despite his wet clothes, jumped into a chair at a table and started to eat it in a ravenous way with his hands. "Oh my," she giggled at his horrible manners.  
  
"You took away all my fun, Sango," Sesshomaru said in sarcasm as he eyed the two humans. "You still smell, Miroku. You need to wash with soap," he added, tossing a bottle of soapy liquid towards him.  
  
"He doesn't smell to me," Sango defend lightly but Sesshomaru snorted.  
  
"Of course he doesn't smell to you. You do not have an Inuyoukai nose," He shot back. Sango sighed and shrugged, admitting defeat. "Miroku, what do you propose we do as soon as you are back to your full health?"  
  
"What do you think? We go after the youkai that slaughtered my mother!"

. . .  
  
"So. How did the little rape fiend handle level one on your machine, Akira?" Lord Koga asked his advisor. The elder youkai sighed and nodded.  
  
"It didn't have the entire effect that I thought it would have on him. He is a strong one. A very strong one. He tried to fight the machine," Akira replied, watching as the wolf youkai's eyes grew bewildered.  
  
"Fight it?" He repeated in confusion. "Is that possible?"  
  
"If you have the correct state of mind but he lost it shortly. He had to give into the needs of his body," The elder youkai replied, watching as the younger Lord relaxed.  
  
"I want him dead by my wedding, do you understand me? If you won't do it, then I will. Make now mistake," Lord Koga spat in a whisper because he heard soft footstep and recognized the scent of his fiancé as she came down the hall.  
  
"Lord Koga?" She asked him, bowing politely when she saw he was conversing with another lord.  
  
"What is it, my beloved?" He replied, ushering Lord Akira away. Kagome entered the room stoically, her face playing no emotion.  
  
"Is there any way that I might be able to send Inuyasha word of our wedding?"  
  
Lord Koga felt his claws dig into his fist but he kept his composure. "Of course, darling. Why don't you write a scroll for him and I shall send it on one of my ships to locate him."  
  
"Inuyasha will come to save me. He loves me," Kagome replied softly, her eyes growing soft and sad.  
  
"He is not the only man who loves you. Never mistake that," Lord Koga replied, taking her hands in his. She did not meet his gaze but she knew what his face must have looked like. "Why don't you go to bed, my dear. It's late."  
  
"Yes," she replied, nodding but she felt herself be pulled up against Lord Koga's chest. Before she could try to break away, his dry and experienced lips had captured hers and his tongue was coaxing her greedily. She gasped and pushed away, gasping. "I am exhausted. Forgive me, Lord Koga," she wheezed, rushing, with composure, away to her chambers, crying as she went.  
  
Ending Writer's Corner:  
  
What do you think? FEEDBACK! FEEDBACK!


	15. Chapter Fourteen

_Writer's Corner:_  
  
If there is confusion about a part in the story where Kagome goes with Koga. Kagome wanted to save Inuyasha's life. She did not just want to sit by helplessly. She thought she could actually make a difference in making the decision to go with Koga. I hope that clears up any misunderstandings!!! Thank you!

.  
  
_Previously...  
  
"Is there any way that I might be able to send Inuyasha word of our wedding?"  
  
Lord Koga felt his claws dig into his fist but he kept his composure. "Of course, darling. Why don't you write a scroll for him and I shall send it on one of my ships to locate him."  
  
"Inuyasha will come to save me. He loves me," Kagome replied softly, her eyes growing soft and sad.  
  
"He is not the only man who loves you. Never mistake that," Lord Koga replied, taking her hands in his. She did not meet his gaze but she knew what his face must have looked like. "Why don't you go to bed, my dear? It's late."  
  
"Yes," she replied, nodding but she felt herself be pulled up against Lord Koga's chest. Before she could try to break away, his dry and experienced lips had captured hers and his tongue was coaxing her greedily. She gasped and pushed away, gasping. "I am exhausted. Forgive me, Lord Koga," she wheezed, rushing, with composure, away to her chambers, crying as she went._

_. . .  
_  
_**Chapter Fourteen:**_  
  
"You are suggesting we do what?" Sango asked, perplexed beyond her mind.  
  
"We should find the disguised Inuyoukai who defeated both Sesshomaru and myself," Miroku replied calmly and evenly, watching the anger that played across the powerful and proud youkai's face at the mention of his loss.  
  
"I was not in my balance that day, I assure you," Sesshomaru muttered. Sango watched him with sympathetic dark eyes but immediately looked elsewhere when she saw him narrow his eyes at her and growl.  
  
"If we go to find him, we will all be able to get what we want. Sango, you will get your freedom if Lord Koga is killed. The same for you, Sesshomaru..." Miroku stopped and bit back a chuckle. The Inuyoukai snorted and rolled his eyes.  
  
"If you are going to say, well what do you know? That rhymed!' human, I will have to disembowel you," Sesshomaru said in warning tones. Sango giggled but composed herself when both men gave her serious looks (even though Miroku's was more hentai then stoic...).  
  
"Me, I will help you kill Lord Koga but then I will seek the youkai who slaughtered my mother in cold blood. Bastard..." He trailed off, feeling the age-old anger well up in his chest once again.  
  
"So you think if we find this youkai, he will be able to help us defeat Lord Koga and end the war attempts he hired Naraku to start?" Sango asked, putting the pieces of Miroku's plan together. When the young man nodded, she understood. "I see. That is not a bad idea. I'm proud of you."  
  
"Why would the Inuyoukai need to help us? There is nothing in it for him," Sesshomaru interjected, watching as dark eyes were now on him. Miroku sighed and placed his hands in his lap in defeat.  
  
"I hadn't thought of that..."  
  
"Are you so proud of him now, Sango? The fool cannot even think a simple plan through," Sesshomaru snorted, closing his eyes and relaxing briefly. Sango cleared her throat, drawing his attention again.  
  
"Well, while I was looking for you, Sesshomaru, I did hear that Lady Kagome was returned to the castle. She is living with Lord Koga once again. It appears that the Inuyoukai slept with her and then was taken to a torture chamber. I do not know if it is true though," she finished, straightening a few locks of her long, ebony hair. "Rumors are like a disease here in Florin."  
  
"It might be true," Sesshomaru replied with no emotion in his voice.  
  
"What are you saying, Sesshomaru? Should we seek him out?" Miroku asked, seeing the brooding wave that had overcome the strong youkai. Golden eyes shot over to him as if replying to his question. The young man nodded, not needing his words in answer. "Then we shall go. Sesshomaru, you will track for his scent, won't you?"  
  
"I am not a trained dog," Sesshomaru snorted, rolling his eyes as he stood and exited the hut. Sango giggled and Miroku grinned. The Inuyoukai was always so stone cold and professional about everything.

. . .  
  
"Good morning," Akira said gently to a heavily stressed Inuyasha. He had lines under his bloodshot eyes. He had not slept. He had been in too much pain from the machine. Lord Akira had raised the level from one to two and then two to three and so on. He was now up to six over the last six days with six sleepless nights.  
  
Inuyasha only made a small groan in response. His voice was absent from straining his body to block out the festering pain of the machine as it drew out his life. He blinked a few times to rid the dryness of his eyes.  
  
"Shall we up you to level seven or would you like some more time to think about the horrible blunders you've made all of your life?" The youkai with blue markings asked, rhetorically. Inuyasha just let out a pent up sigh, not desiring to be toyed with or teased. "I understand. This must truly be trying for you. A youkai like you with strong pain-tolerance, lowered to the tolerance of a small pup. You must seem rather pathetic to yourself," He added, observing Inuyasha's defeated demeanor. "Silent today? Well then. I will just have to come back later when you regain your voice." Akira eyed his victim one last time before he left the Pit of Despair.  
  
_Kagome... I know you were trying to save me and I know you didn't know this would happen... but why didn't you give me a chance? We may be apart but nothing can stop our love. I hope you know that... I'll always remember your face, your body... your mind..._ The physically tormented Inuyoukai thought as he tried to relax his tied and tensed muscles.

. . .  
  
Kagome brushed her hair dutifully as she sat upon her silken bed. She sighed, her chocolate eyes going to the window as her thoughts wandered. She had given her letters to Lord Koga six days ago and was still eagerly waiting for a reply. _Lord Koga hates Inuyasha. I remember his reaction when he realized Inuyasha had mated with me. He was probably just saying that he would send out his ships just to console me and make me excited for our wedding tomorrow._ She frowned upon that thought. _Lord Koga loves me though. He wanted to make me happy... But... _She continued to ponder it over in her head. She needed to know the truth.  
  
Kagome dropped her brush and stood up, fluidly strolling down the hall to her fiancée's meeting chamber, where he always was, and knocked on the door, standing there impatiently. She could hear muffled voices between himself and Lord Akira and she did not want to be rude but she had to see his reactions to the questions she wanted to ask him. He was very readable in the emotions that played across his features so she would know if he was lying or not. "Lord Koga?" she asked.  
  
"One moment, darling," He replied to her as he and Lord Akira finished whatever business they were talking about. "Come in." Kagome walked in with pose and stature, giving off as much of a polite and serene air as she could. "What is it?"  
  
"I would like to speak with you privately a moment, my lord," she said, bowing her head in respect.  
  
"I was just leaving, my Lord to go and tend to your wolves," Lord Koga nodded to Lord Akira and the elder youkai left the couple in confidence. Although Lord Akira said he was going to tend the wolves, it was the alibi for going to torture the victim with the Machine of Death.  
  
"What needs to be brought to my attention, dear Kagome?" Lord Koga asked gently, taking her soft hand in his rough calloused one again. He was slightly perturbed at her always refusing his other gestures of affection such as kissing, embracing for long periods of time or letting his nose drift into her hair but he didn't let them affect him too much. He had thought of trying to seduce her into his room and mate before they were wed but knew what the outcome would be. The only thing she would allow was holding her hand. He didn't mind in the least.  
  
"You lied to me," She stated somewhat firmly and aggressively, her dark eyes boring into him. Lord Koga hardly ever felt cornered by anyone except for, it seemed, his beautiful, arousing fiancée.  
  
"I _lied_? About what?" He replied innocently, his eyes going wide as he swallowed very hard.  
  
"You said you sent my letters to Inuyasha. I am not stupid, Lord Koga and I'm not air-headed like most of the women who abide in your castle," Kagome answered, crossing her arms over her chest, her eyebrows narrowing. "Where is he? Tell me **now**!"  
  
Lord Koga snarled at her, grabbing her arm. She was out of line. He had been astounded by her audacity to speak in such a formal manner with him but it was never a woman's place to order a man around. "Bite your tongue! I killed that whelp myself! He will never come back for you!" He roared, throwing her back roughly but not hard enough for her to lose her balance. Kagome gasped, her chocolate eyes wide as sadness consumed her. But, even though the wolf youkai's words seemed sensible and possibly truthful, the young woman could not ignore the nagging feeling of doubt in her chest.  
  
_He killed him? How is that possible?_ Lord Koga may be strong but he is not strong enough to kill Inuyasha... She sent a look to him, noting the strain in his face and the tenseness of his muscles. He was lying again. Kagome did a wry but slightly condescending smile. "You are lying again."  
  
"How DARE you accuse me in such a manner, Kagome!" Lord Koga fired back, his fangs showing as he growled in an animalistic way.  
  
"I will accuse you and I will keep accusing you. I see the fear in your eyes. You aren't able to kill him! That's it, isn't it?" Kagome summed up in a feisty manner, her voice nearly as loud as the angry wolf youkai's. She may have been out of line and she was not acting proper but she was all ready going and was not going to be stopped until she had a satisfying answer. She calmed somewhat but her voice was still filled with rich, fiery intensity. "You are wrong if you think torture or many youkai can kill my Inuyasha. He has crossed great lengths to get to me before and he probably will not stop now. You are too afraid to handle him. I can sense the fear on you. The fear comes to possibility that if Inuyasha does not die, your life is in danger if you keep and marry me," she took a breath and saw she still had his attention, absorbing her every word in a brainwashed state, even if he looked fairly angry. "You are acting like a child, Lord Koga. Keeping me all for yourself. Are you sure you deserve me or any other woman for that matter because the only thing I see in you is your cowardice. And that is what you are. A **coward**." Kagome finished, feeling the huge and heavy burden that had lifted off of her chest with those words. She grew frightened when the wolf youkai did not do anything for several moments.  
  
Lord Koga stood, unable to believe she had just said something like that to someone of his caliber. He had been called names and spat at but never had he taken such a huge blow to his pride. His heart throbbed and his anger seethed through his body. He did not want to slaughter his beloved fiancée, as his conscious mind was still intact, even though his youkai blood demanded death. His eyes glowed crimson red when he looked at Kagome in pure fury. "No one has ever dared to say anything like that to me. And it will never happen again!" He shouted, his fangs showing as he roared and grabbed her around the waist and flipped her over his shoulder.  
  
Kagome let out a scream but muffled her cries in her hands as he hauled her down the hall like an eight-pound sack of potatoes. He opened her door roughly and threw her inside on her bed, slamming the door, breaking it off his hinges. The young woman cringed when her door, dismantled from the wall, hit the floor with a resounding smack that brought many servants to come and inspect the damage. She felt tears of fright sting in her eyes but she choked them back. She was right in what she had done. She had done the right thing.  
  
_Why does it feel like I've made a horrible mistake,_ she thought as she saw the blur that was Lord Koga run out of the castle.

. . .  
  
_This is all that stupid Inu's fault! I will kill him for sure. He will be dead by MY hands_, Lord Koga snarled angrily in his mind as he made his way towards the Pit of Despair.

. . .  
  
"Miroku!" Sango cried, slapping the young man across the face. She had bent over to pick up her discarded cloak when she felt a hand grace her slender and toned backside.  
  
"We have no time for this. The Inuyoukai's scent has been stale for nearly a week now. I can barely detect it. I need to concentrate, not hear mindless rambles from wenches or see foolish male desires go into action," Sesshomaru snapped, silencing the two humans. The proud youkai let out a deep breath and continued to walk along. "I believe he went this way."  
  
Sango and Miroku nodded. The young man gave the young woman a look that begged for forgiveness that contained feigned innocence, bobbing his eyebrows slightly. Sango sighed, and patted Miroku's shoulder. _Stupid hentai,_ she thought as their small group of compatriots traveled onward.

. . .  
  
Inuyasha felt Jaken and Lord Akira attaching the machine to his exhausted body once again. _I wonder what they will put me at today,_ he thought, closing his eyes.  
  
"INUYASHA!" The foolish wolf youkai that had taken his Kagome away yelled, running like a blur into the room. Inuyasha's eyes shot open as he watched his enemy. Lord Koga ran to his side, and glared angrily in his face, his eyes were red. Lord Akira and Jaken stepped away for fear of being torn to shred by their ruler. "YOU did this! It's YOUR fault! I am not a coward! Kagome is MINE and MINE ALONE!" He screamed, running to the lever on the machine, shifting the gears to the highest level.  
  
"OH KAMI-SAMA! NOT 100!" Lord Akira shouted in alarm.

. . .  
  
_Ending Writer's Corner:_  
  
Sorry about the cliffhanger ending! Please review!


	16. Chapter Fifteen

_Writer's Corner:_  
  
The story is coming to an end! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! But wait! The ending is... Happy so I guess I'll be happy! And so will you readers! YAY! WE WIN! I'm planning on getting everyone in this story so don't worry and you know what? I was planning to have Totosai as Miracle Max and Kaede as his wife (the witch! Hehehehe).  
  
Also, if you buy the latest version of the Princess Bride in bookstores, the first couple of chapters to the sequel, "Buttercup's Baby" are included. The book is under science fiction/fantasy and is under William Goldman and is available at Barnes and Noble, Waldenbooks and your local library. Aren't I just the most informed 16 year old? Lol. Have fun now y'all!  
  
Well, enough of my rambles and ONTO DUH CHAPPIE-TER! (No I did not just drink Mountain Dew! What are you talking about?)

.  
  
_Previously...  
  
"INUYASHA!" The foolish wolf youkai that had taken his Kagome away yelled, running like a blur into the room. Inuyasha's eyes shot open as he watched his enemy. Lord Koga ran to his side, and glared angrily in his face, his eyes were red. Lord Akira and Jaken stepped away for fear of being torn to shred by their ruler. "YOU did this! It's YOUR fault! I am not a coward! Kagome is MINE and MINE ALONE!" He screamed, running to the lever on the machine, shifting the gears to the highest level.  
  
"OH KAMI-SAMA! NOT 100!" Lord Akira shouted in alarm._

_. . .  
_  
**_Chapter Fifteen:_**  
  
Instantly, Inuyasha's limp form sprung to life and began to tremble as the machine was roared to its maximum power. His eyes shot open and his mouth screwed together as he attempted to keep his cries of pain at bay. His body... It was melting and burning inside! _#### #### #### OH KAMI-SAMA!_ He screamed in his mind because he refused to expose his weakness.  
  
Lord Akira watched in horror as his machine was just getting warmed up. He saw the Inuyoukai's fixed look of determination not to cry out and felt a bit of pity. _You're going to die you fool. This is nothing. Wait until my machine is finished warming up... _he thought shaking his head.  
  
Lord Koga watched the scene with pure malice and delicious content. He wanted to see him die. It was his fault all of this had started. If Inuyasha had never shown up then this wouldn't have been happening. "I'm going to go see my fiancée Akira. Get him out of here when he's dead," he said over his shoulder as he left.  
  
"Jaken, I suggest you get back," Lord Akira told the toad in warning as the both of them went to go and seek shelter under a nearby table. Then, real action began.  
  
A blue light started emitting from the chords and wires that were fastened into Inuyasha's body, drawing out his blood and life. The table shook and the Inuyoukai's body arched off of the table unnaturally as the machine began to vibrate and smoke. "Kami-sama..." Jaken whispered in shock and awe. The machine let out a high-pitched sound, high enough to do damage to excelled youkai hearing. Lord Akira and Jaken clamped their hands over their ears but Inuyasha could not. His hands were bound to the table. Blood started to flow from the core of his ears because his eardrums had ruptured. Then, his body started to shake in time to the vibrating chords, his mouth open wide. He refused for sound to come out.  
  
Inuyasha was in more pain than he had ever experienced in his entire life! He was helpless, paralyzed and he felt his entire body being broiled from the inside to the outside. _I won't scream! I WON'T!_ He yelled inside his mind as tears streamed down his cheeks. He felt spine crack and he began to feel light-headed. No... _No...Kagome!_ His back folded and he felt his pelvis snap in two, his waist taking on a misshapen appearance and the bone of his pelvis broke through the skin piercing his manhood all the way through. Through his open mouth, the Inuyoukai let out a cry of pain and helplessness that was heard throughout all of Florin.

. . .  
  
Kagome's eyes shot open as a cry, pure and tortured, echoed through the night. She sat up and rubbed her eyes, yawning as she did so. _What was that?_ She wondered as she shrugged and lay back down, readjusting herself to go back into a world of slumber.

. . .  
  
"It's him!" Sesshomaru hissed to the humans who had been startled out of their sleep by a roar that had pierced the calmness of the forest. Before Sango and Miroku could ask who 'him' was, the Inuyoukai was gone.  
  
Sesshomaru followed the sound, using his extended hearing and found a clearing in the forest where a large tree was located. _This is where the sound is coming from, but where is the Inuyoukai?_ He thought, deciding that it probably would be a good idea to go and retrieve his two compatriots that he had so unceremoniously left behind.

. . .  
  
Lord Akira and Jaken, who had now regained their composure from the extremely gruesome sight they had just witnessed, stood and approached the scorched and damaged table. "He is dead," The blue youkai told the toad, motioning for him to discard of the body. "Lord Koga will be proud. It is a shame though," He mused, sliding the lids of Inuyasha's eyes over the dead whiteness of his orbs. His heinous machine had just murdered him and he was slightly amused. "He was a rather good specimen, I must admit."  
  
"Shall I dump his body in the filth on the outskirts of town, m'lord?" Jaken asked, sliding the Inuyoukai's mangled and broken body onto a wheelbarrow where his limbs hung about in a discarded and rather morbid fashion. "WHEW! He's only just died and he stinks like hell has taken him!" The toad youkai complained as he pushed the wheelbarrow along.  
  
_Lord Koga, surely you could not have been so angry with Kagome calling you a coward in comparison to Inuyasha. There must have been something else fueling your ire,_ Lord Akira thought as he ascended the steps from the Pit of Despair. There was something else bothering the younger wolf youkai and he was going to find out what it was.

. . .  
  
"Here? That horrible scream that came from the Inuyoukai we are searching for is located here?" Sango asked, sardonic tones in her voice. "Sesshomaru, are you quite sure that your ears are working properly? There is only a tree here."  
  
Sesshomaru growled lightly in her direction, testing the air for any trace of the mysterious youkai's scent. He did not catch his scent but he caught a fresh whiff of death that was steadily drawing closer. "Get down," he whispered, pulling Miroku and Sango down by the backs of their cloaks. "Someone is coming..."  
  
As they hid in the bushes, they saw a toad youkai pushing a wheelbarrow exit a hole that appeared in the center of the large tree. The contents of the wagon were that of the youkai who had been the object of their search. Sango and Miroku let out sounds of disappointment and rage flickered in Sesshomaru's eyes. The toad whirled around and stared at the bushes they were hiding in.  
  
"W-who's there?" He asked, his annoying voice irritating Sesshomaru.  
  
"Please excuse me a moment," He whispered to his comrades as he stepped out into the open. "Give me the body of that youkai."  
  
"Never! He does not belong to you and besides! He is dead! Can you not smell it?" The toad replied, trembling at the height and the strength of the Inuyoukai hovering over him.  
  
"Yes, I smell it but I have use for him," Sesshomaru replied emotionlessly to the toad, startling him. He just stood with a stone façade, staring down at the little vermin in his path. Then, growing bored, he slapped the toad out of his way and into a far away tree, observing as its body slithered down the trunk and landed on the ground with a reserved smack'.  
  
"What are we to do with him now, Sesshomaru? He is dead," Miroku asked, standing up and went to the tall and powerful youkai's side. Sango joined him and reached out to touch Inuyasha cautiously, as if he would spring up and bite her at any second.  
  
"He's beautiful... Even like this..." She said aloud, looking over his body in slight alarm but kept it at bay. "I believe that all Inuyoukai are beautiful."  
  
Sesshomaru snorted and rolled his eyes but Miroku shot her a skeptical look. "And what of men? Do you think men are beautiful too?"  
  
Sango returned his look but elevated one of her slender eyebrows. "Men like you? Hmm... Tough question..."  
  
"Enough of your foolish antics, humans. I know of a place where we might be able to restore his life," Sesshomaru barked, silencing the flirtatious couple. Their eyes fixed on him in a questioning manner. "If we are to do this, we must go now."  
  
"All right, let's go," Miroku answered him and helped heft the dead Inuyasha over Sesshomaru's shoulder.

. . .  
  
"My lord?" Lord Akira asked, entering the younger youkai's chambers. He saw him shredding up one of his pillows with blazing red eyes. Blood was running down the deep gashes in his hands from his claws digging into his palms. "You were very angry when you came down to the Pit of Despair earlier. Kagome calling you a coward compared to Inuyasha could not have upset you that much." He came to sit by the wolf youkai, gently placing his hands over the hands that were tearing the fabric of the pillow. "What is really bothering you, my Lord Koga?"  
  
Lord Koga ceased his anger and calmed a bit, even though the veins in his neck were still popping out. "She smells of him..."  
  
"Yes, that would make sense. He spilled his seed into her when they mated," Lord Akira replied neutrally, encouraging the young lord to continue.  
  
"It's not just that..." Lord Koga pressed on, swallowing as if he was dehydrated. He met Lord Akira's eyes, his cerulean blue flickering with anger and betrayal. "She has conceived his pup..." His fists clenched and his claws wedged even deeper into his already raw palms. "THAT is why I had to do what I did. It's not that she called me a coward and compared me to the likes of him... But that she will be heavy with his pup and not my own..." Sadness was evident in his husky voice. "If I have to..." He added, standing. "I will kill that abomination after it is born!"  
  
"I understand my lord," Lord Akira told him. "Calm down and rest now. You have a big day tomorrow. You're going to be doing plans for your wedding."  
  
"Yes," Lord Koga replied, flopping down on his large bed. "And is Inuyasha dead?"  
  
"He is, my lord."  
  
"Good..."

. . .  
  
_Ending Writer's Corner:_  
  
HEEEEEEEEEEEEE! Update! I'm so glad you like this story minna-san! That brings tears to my eyes... again! There was one person who didn't like this story and they told me so flat out. They emailed me and everything! They were so rude and I nearly cried! I didn't cry because they didn't like my story because hey, not all stories appeal to everyone but they were just so damned MEAN! GOD!  
  
Woop! I went overboard! Well, until next chapter... Dun dun dun...

Oh yes and I apologize for making Inuyasha suffer so much but hey, at least it's not as bad as the movie, huh?


	17. Chapter Sixteen

_Writer's Corner:_  
  
Only a couple more chapters left! I'll try and make them really long so they really are only a couple chapters left. Lol. Are you guys pissed at Lord Koga yet? I know I am.  
  
Oh yes and I apologize to any male that I may have offended with my last chapter. I got a review saying that what I had done to him was very disturbing and I apologize for I am a girl and I do not have... that part... Tee hee ;)

_Previously...  
  
"It's not just that..." Lord Koga pressed on, swallowing as if he was dehydrated. He met Lord Akira's eyes, his cerulean blue flickering with anger and betrayal. "She has conceived his pup..." His fists clenched and his claws wedged even deeper into his already raw palms. "THAT is why I had to do what I did. It's not that she called me a coward and compared me to the likes of him... But that she will be heavy with his pup and not my own..." Sadness was evident in his husky voice. "If I have to..." He added, standing. "I will kill that abomination after it is born!"  
  
"I understand my lord," Lord Akira told him. "Calm down and rest now. You have a big day tomorrow. You're going to be doing plans for your wedding."  
  
"Yes," Lord Koga replied, flopping down on his large bed. "And is Inuyasha dead?"  
  
"He is, my lord."  
  
"Good..."_

_. . .  
_  
_**Chapter Sixteen:**_  
  
"This is it," Sesshomaru said quietly to his traveling compatriots when they stopped in front of an old rickety hut on the outskirts of town. He punched the door once and was a bit surprised when the door fell off its hinges.  
  
"Bra-vo, Sesshomaru," Miroku said sarcastically. "You are too strong for your own good." His only reply was a glare from hell. The young man shrugged and stepped forward so he could get a good look at whoever was going to help them bring the Inuyoukai back to life.  
  
"Sesshomaru, no one is answering. Do you think this is the right-" She was cut off when an old man approached the door with a thin ponytail sticking off the top of his head was staring at them from the open door way. His eyes bulged and he screamed very loudly, revealing rather sharp teeth.  
  
"AAAAAIEEE! DEMONS!" He yelled and ran out of sight, knocking in a table and then started to complain about his back to someone. Miroku stared curiously into the hut to see the old man now lying down, his breathing ragged and an old woman was approaching the door. From the looks of it, she seemed to be an old and retired miko by her attire.  
  
"Good morning to ye. I apologize for my husband. Ever since he had been fired by Lord Koga he has been jumping at every little thing," She told the group of three with a small smile. Her face then washed with worry when she looked at the bundle that was slung over the tall Inuyoukai's shoulder. "What be that, m'boy?" she asked, pointing to the dead Inuyasha.  
  
"It is a dead Inuyoukai and we were hoping that your husband would be able to restore his life," Sesshomaru replied point blank. His eyes were hard because he wanted this to go as quickly as possible.  
  
"Nope! Nope! Sorry! Can't help ya," The old man shouted from the backround, hobbling with his back hunched into a room out of their sight.  
  
"Totosai! Ye old coward! Come back here and do not be rude to these folk," The old hag called in slight irritation into the house only to get a whimpering response that Sesshomaru heard too clearly.  
  
"I will not kill him if that is what he is thinking. I will however if he does not agree to help," He stated, using his free arm and cracking his knuckles in that hand. The hag nodded and a small and humorous smile graced her lips. At those words, the old geezer called Totosai came out of hiding and regarded the group.  
  
"I'll take a look at him. How much have you got?" He asked, crossing his arms in his kimono sleeves. Sesshomaru growled lightly in his throat but Miroku stopped him and held out a small sack of money.  
  
"We can offer you this much, Lord Totosai," The young man stated, handing the sack of money to the sword smith. The old man balked at it for a second and then grew angry.  
  
"You expect me to save a demon's life for only THAT much? You are crazy. Go to another place," He shouted at them. Sesshomaru took a step forward, his body hovering like an ominous shadow. Totosai gulped. "But... then again, I suppose I could run a check on him..."  
  
"Thank you Lord Totosai," Sango told him, bowing and with a sweet smile. The old man grunted in response as he showed them the way in, motioning for Sesshomaru to lay the dead youkai on the table. He took off Inuyasha's shirt and listened for a heartbeat. His eyes widened.  
  
"He's not all dead," He told them quietly.  
  
"I could hear no heartbeat," Sesshomaru replied, his eyes narrowed in suspicion. Hardly anything went past his ears. Totosai signaled for Sesshomaru to come and listen to a specific spot on his chest and sure enough, there was a barely audible sound. "Kami-sama..." the Inuyoukai whispered as he stood up in awe but he barely let it show.  
  
"So... He's alive still?" Sango asked, confused by what Totosai had said. How could a being be not all dead?  
  
"Well... No and yes. He's mostly dead," The old man replied, reaching for an instrument that pumped and enlarged fire with its air. He began to pump air into Inuyasha's non-moving chest. The three compatriots watched in fascination as his chest began to fill up and move even when he was mostly' dead.  
  
"What are you doing now, Lord Totosai?" Miroku questioned. Totosai removed the tool from Inuyasha's mouth and set it back in its spot by the fireplace.  
  
"I'm going to see what his objective is," The old man answered him, opening the mostly dead Inuyoukai's mouth a fraction.  
  
"His objective?" Sango spat in confusion, her brows screwed together in thought. "Lord Totosai, he is mostly dead. He cannot talk. How can you find out what he really wants now when he is basically not of the living?"  
  
"You think there are not ways to do this? Watch and see, young lady," Totosai said in a hushing and forceful manner. Sango's lips clamped together as she watched with interest and bewilderment of what he was going to do.  
  
Totosai bent by Inuyasha's ear and said rather loudly, "Hey! Wake up in there! I know you can hear me you smelly, rotting whelp!" A small and irritated sound escaped the mostly dead Inuyoukai's lips, making Sango, Miroku and Sesshomaru edge back a step in alarm. "What is it you're still here for? Why are you holding onto life like this when you're supposed to be dead?" The old man then pressed his hands rather roughly on Inuyasha's chest, pushing the air out of his mouth.  
  
"Ka... Go.... Me..." Came the airy and slightly muffled response. Miroku's eyes widened and Sango stiffened. He actually TALKED rather than made a sound! Sesshomaru was a bit baffled by this too but rather hid it behind his stoic façade.  
  
"He said Kagome! He wants to go to Lady Kagome!" Sango exclaimed to her two friends in shock. "He is in love with her, that's why he wanted to save her out on the Gilderian frontier!"  
  
"No he didn't say Lady Kagome," Totosai scoffed. "He said 'that's growdy' as in something is gross. It probably is his own scent since he has been mostly dead for a couple hours now."  
  
"_Liar_! Ye know that is not what the lad said!" The old woman exclaimed, entering the room behind their guests.  
  
"Get back witch! Stop accusing me! Don't you use any of your spells on me now!" Totosai roared at her, running around the table. She began to chase him.  
  
"I was no witch! I was a miko! Ye know what he said! He said Kagome!" She shouted at her husband but stopped and looked to the three that were watching them. "He has lost his confidence ever since Lord Koga dismissed him from the castle. Forgive him."  
  
"Don't say his name!" The old man bellowed as he cupped his hands over his ears.  
  
"Koga! Koga! There! Ye don't like it, do ye?" The old woman shouted into her husbands plugged ears.  
  
"If this Inuyoukai is restored, he will go and slaughter Lord Koga if you would want to know," Miroku intervened, catching the couple that was bickering and annoying each other by surprise. Totosai looked very interested.  
  
"He _would_, would he..."He took a look to his wife and then smiled. "Well then, Kaede! What are we waiting for?"  
  
"Is it true that you can forge swords from the fangs of demons and give them extraordinary powers, Totosai?" Sesshomaru asked the sword smith with all seriousness because he wanted the sword to be finished soon.  
  
"Yes, but are you going to give me one of your fangs? I cannot forge a sword that will bring this youkai back to life without one," He replied.  
  
Sesshomaru drew something out of his robes and held it out. It was rather large and he handed it to Totosai. "It is my father's fang. Use it."  
  
Totosai nodded and went to work on forging the sword. Sesshomaru had given him a small time limit and he really didn't want to be on the bad side of a youkai who could slit his throat without trying.

. . .  
  
Kagome fell down gasping for air onto the floor when the servant youkai had removed her corset. "Why... must I wear... one of those tonight?" She wheezed, her sides hurting from how tight it was.  
  
"It is the latest fashion, m'lady. You want to look proper for your wedding, do you not?" The cat youkai who was attending her asked. Kagome shrugged. She really didn't care because she wasn't planning on getting married. She would get out of it any way that she had to, even if it meant taking some drastic measures.  
  
Lord Koga knocked on her door and she acknowledged him by telling him she was decent enough for him to enter. "So my dearest, are you excited for tonight?"  
  
"The wedding?" Kagome asked in disinterest but not to be rude kept a slightly cheerful look on her face.  
  
"No, after the wedding, when we make love for the first time as mates," He answered her, a ##### grin on his face. Kagome wanted to throw up when he said make love for the first time as mates. It didn't sound right coming from him. It would not be lovemaking. It would be brutal and animalistic sex that she didn't want. She would be used and toyed with and she would be powerless to stop him.  
  
"O-of course, Lord Koga," she stammered as she felt stomach acid rise in her throat from his words.  
  
"Good, now if you'll excuse me, I must finish making preparations for the rest of the wedding," Lord Koga told her and left a very disgusted Kagome alone. As he walked down the hall, he stopped Lord Akira, seeing that there was something troubling the old youkai. "What is it?"  
  
"Inuyasha's body was stolen from Jaken last night in the forest. The youkai and two humans that took it have gone to see Totosai," The youkai lord replied, his eyes grave. Lord Koga's eyes widened in response.  
  
"Totosai... As in... The sword smith that I expelled?" The wolf answered, his voice growing hoarse. "You mean... they're going to try to-"  
  
"Yes, they're going to try and restore his life," Was the curt reply.  
  
"Put guards at every wall and barricade the gates. He will not get in, interrupt my wedding steal my woman and kill me do you understand?" Lord Koga hissed through clenched fangs, fear rising in his gut.  
  
"Yes, my lord," Lord Akira answered, shuffling down the hall passed the younger youkai.  
  
_Kami-sama... I'll be killed if he gets in here_, Lord Koga thought to himself as he went to finish up the wedding plans with a fear filled gut and a sickening taste that began to rise in his mouth.

. . .  
  
_Ending Writer's Corner:_  
  
Dun dun dun... Let's see... After this, I'll probably estimate about two or three more chapters and then maybe an epilogue. Wow! This was so much fun to write that I'm going to miss it! Tear tear. Also, sorry for the late update! I was in North Carolina for a couple of days!


	18. Chapter Seventeen

_Writer's Corner:_

Dun dun dun... I'm going to try and make this chapter really long so I can finish the idea that I had. I hope this story can be one of those stories that maybe after a little while you'll have to come back and read it again. That would make me so happy! YAY! Well, ONTO THE STORY!!!!!

.

_Previously..._

_"Yes, they're going to try and restore his life," Was the curt reply._

_"Put guards at every wall and barricade the gates. He will not get in, interrupt my wedding steal my woman and kill me do you understand?" Lord Koga hissed through clenched fangs, fear rising in his gut._

_"Yes, my lord," Lord Akira answered, shuffling down the hall passed the younger youkai._

Kami-sama... I'll be killed if he gets in here_,_ _Lord Koga thought to himself as he went to finish up the wedding plans with a fear filled gut and a sickening taste that began to rise in his mouth._

_. . ._

**_Chapter Seventeen:_**

Sesshomaru sat anxiously, his golden eyes darting around the exterior appearance of the sword smith's hut. _It's been hours... Why has he not finished yet?_ He thought in boredom and exhaled deeply before his ears caught a distinct conversation coming from the side of the house. His pointed ears flicked in the direction as he listened without effort of the words exchanged between Miroku and Sango.

"What do you want from me, Miroku?" He heard Sango's melodic voice ask in innocent confusion. The proud Inuyoukai rolled his eyes, mentally calling Sango an idiot for not knowing Miroku's intentions. It was quite clear that he had been calling for her affection for quite some time now only to be squashed down when Naraku was claiming her body and rutting with her from time to time. Sesshomaru listened more intently, finding the conversation quite interesting for some odd reason.

Miroku let out a sigh and ran a frustrated hand through his hair, not knowing how to word what he was trying to say correctly. How could she not know? "Sango, you and I are both unmarried, correct?"

"Yes, but I hardly see how that applies to what you are saying- Oh..." The young woman gasped in realization, a blush caressing her cheeks. Sesshomaru didn't need to see her to know that she was getting slightly aroused. Her scent was dripping with embarrassment and the need of her womanhood to be fulfilled. "Miroku..." she said softly, her dark eyes shining in wonder. The young man could not meet her gaze.

"I do not know if you would have me. I do not think that I could please as well as a half-demon's vigorous pace ever could," Miroku told her softly. Sango's eyes filled with tears of happiness as she reached out and touched his cheek.

"I'm sure you could please more than that disgusting lusting beast Naraku could have ever done," she whispered into his ear when she pulled his head down so his forehead was resting on her own. "He hurt me every time..."

Miroku drew back slightly, meeting her momentarily pain-stricken eyes, his hand coming to rest over the smaller, softer hand beneath his own. "Sango... I wouldn't want to-" He was interrupted when the fingers of her other hand came to rest on his lips, silencing him. A small smile perked at her lips as the hand that was safely underneath the young man's slithered around his neck, pulling him closer to her.

"Making love is not painful unless you do not want it, Miroku. You wouldn't hurt me," she said softly into his ear, placing a small and chaste kiss upon his cheek, pulling back, her eyes full of emotion unspeakable. "I love you," she whispered, gasping when he gathered her in his arms forcefully, a shameless smile crossing her lips.

"Sango... My beautiful Sango..." Miroku groaned huskily in her ear as his hands ravaged up and down her clothed back, his lips finding hers as passion was found inside the both of them, deeper than either had expected. He inhaled sharply when her leg purposely nudged against his inner thigh, swallowing and clamping his eyes shut as he fought back a primitive instinct. "Not now, beloved... We're out where Sesshomaru can easily catch us in this compromising situation that we are in..."

"If he has not all ready heard all you have said," a deep baritone voice threaded into the wind. The couple broke apart when they saw his head peep around the corner at them, his golden eyes narrowed. "Really. Must you give off such a display in public? There are two old people inside and children all around. Do you not prefer privacy? The way you both smell is making me ill also so please calm your pheromones and your testosterone," the proud youkai added to them, nodding once and then disappeared around the corner.

"I don't care where we are but we should at least get a private hut, don't you think?" Miroku chuckled into her ear sending shivers down her spine.

"Shhh," she hushed him, putting a finger to her lips and mouthed, Sesshomaru can still hear us'. The young man nodded and then kissed her hotly before shoving himself away from her, straightening his robes.

"Now that that is over with, I wonder how much longer it will take Lord Totosai to forge the sword?" Miroku stated, walking around the corner holding Sango's hand as he regarded a very bored Sesshomaru. "Do we smell better now?"

"You do, Miroku but Sango still reeks of arousal-" The Inuyoukai replied but was cut off when the door next to him opened swiftly. Lady Kaede regarded them from the doorway and bowed slightly.

"The sword ye wanted to be forged is completed. My husband has told me to call ye in," The old woman told them, stepping out of the doorway so the group of compatriots could step into the small hut. The three of them saw Totosai holding a newly forged sword that was glowing a magnificent white.

"Sesshomaru, you will be the wielder of this fanged sword. It is called the tenseiga. It will restore the youkai's life but not his strength. It is the best I could do with the time given to me," The old man regarded the group that had brought the mysterious Inuyoukai to him. "You must strike the sword all the way through his body and wait a bit for the magic to take its effect. He will be very aggressive when he wakes but that will not be fearful for he will have hardly any strength to move on his own."

"Thank you Lord Totosai for forging such a masterpiece for us," Miroku said politely, bowing and showing his respects. Sango mimicked the gesture but Sesshomaru stood proudly and took the sword that the sword smith was holding out to him.

"Are you sure it will work?" The Inuyoukai asked, his deep voice stony and impassive. Totosai nodded meekly but placed a smile on his face.

"There ya have it! Your own sword! Time to go and kill Lord Koga now. Bye bye!" The old man exclaimed. "Gather up your youkai friend and get the hell out of- I mean please have fun with your slaughter when you leave my house!"

Sesshomaru rolled his eyes in irritation and picked Inuyasha up and slung him over his shoulder. "We will go. Our time had better not have been wasted waiting for this faulty sword, Totosai, or it will be your neck I will come for next," he stated in harsh tones over his shoulder. The door slammed promptly behind him as the three began at a vigorous pace to get to the castle.

"Sesshomaru, was that display back there completely necessary? You didn't have to threaten Lord Totosai's life like that. He _did_ forge us a sword in under four hours, you know," Sango chastised the Inuyoukai in a reminding tone. The proud youkai just growled lowly in his chest, silencing her with a shrug. "All right then..." she mumbled as they continued on.

As soon as Totosai was sure the group that he had just forged a sword for was gone, he let out a pent up breath. "Kaede! Did you hear the way that stupid youkai threatened me? _That_ is why I didn't want to forge the sword!"

"Oh, husband," the old woman sighed and put a hand to his shoulder. She then fixed him a wise but knowing look. "Will the sword's magic, work?"

"I don't know. We will have to see," Kaede's husband replied as they went to count the gold from the sack that Miroku had given to them for the payment of the sword.

. . .

"Damn it," muttered a slightly perturbed Miroku as he, Sango and Sesshomaru sat in hiding on a castle wall that overlooked all of the grounds. "There must be at least one hundred guards at every post..."

"Fool," Sesshomaru muttered. When he had both the young man and the young woman's attention, he cleared his throat while pointing to the mostly dead Inuyasha.

"He won't be able to fight though, Sesshomaru. There would be no point," Sango whispered, staring at the mostly dead Inuyoukai. Sesshomaru unsheathed the tenseiga and slashed it through Inuyasha's body. The humans fell back from the blinding light but Sesshomaru's eyes only squinted. The bright light began to fade away and they watched the broke bones and the torn tissue heal themselves. Then, his chest started to rise and fall ever so gently.

"Kagome! KAGOME!" Inuyasha began to roar but was silenced with a strong hand clamped over his mouth to muffle his cries. His eyes narrowed when he looked in recognition at all those who were present around him.

"I see your vocal chords are at perfect health," Sesshomaru stated, removing his hand.

"Why are you all here? Where's Kagome? Why can't I move? What happ-" Sango's hand smashed over Inuyasha's mouth this time as she tried to calm him down. He was working himself into a tizzy from all of the confusion.

"You are hiding on top of the castle of Lord Koga. Kagome and the wolf youkai are to be wed in about fifteen minutes. We need to get past the guards and inside to save her and then I shall go and find the youkai who slaughtered my mother," Miroku filled him in.

"How the hell are we supposed to get in? I'm kind of paralyzed here," Inuyasha replied sardonically after he had escaped Sango's hand, one of his thick eyebrows rose slightly. "There are a whole lot of guards down there..."

"We'll use our true forms to fend them off. You do not need to move, all you need to do is stand and fend them off by growling and such," Sesshomaru answered him. The two Inuyoukai looked at each other thoughtfully for a few moments before Inuyasha nodded.

"Hey! He nodded!" Sango said in surprise, parting some hair out of the paralyzed youkai's eyes. Inuyasha only snorted.

"I'm supposed to battle many hundreds of guards and slay a wolf youkai in order to save my mate and you think I should be happy about _nodding_?" He said to her in sarcasm. "Let's get a move on then if we've only got fifteen minutes!"

Sesshomaru nodded, he and Miroku escorting him down to where the heart of all the guards where located.

. . .

_Kami-sama... This is hell on earth!_ Kagome thought as she was dragged into the large gathering room and shoved rather roughly into the servant youkai who was to escort her down the isle to where a very dressed up Lord Koga was standing. She swallowed but kept her face void of any emotion as she slowly walked down the isle in time with the slow waltz that was playing in the back round. She soon had interlocked her arms with Lord Koga and was looking distastefully at him, masking it well.

"Mawwidge. The cawze that bwings us togevah today whewe we awe going to expewience duh vows of howwy matwimony," the priest spoke, his voice rather untrained. It took every ounce of will power for all the occupants of the room to not laugh at the bad speaking problem he had. All of a sudden, there were raised voices and Lord Koga's arm tensed around Kagome's. The guards that had been stationed in the gathering room were summoned outside.

"Priest! Marry us, now!" Lord Koga commanded toward the elderly man, jerking Kagome close to him. She shoved against him slightly, not liking the way he was handling her.

"What do woo want me to say, Ward Koga?" the elderly priest asked.

"Call us man and wife! NOW!" The wolf shouted, silencing all the nervous chatter of the guests that had been invited.

"Man and Wife," The priest exclaimed, watching as the wolf youkai dragged his new so-called wife down the hall and threw her into her chambers. Lord Akira followed his lord, waiting for orders.

"Find out what the hell is going on out there and _fix_ it! I won't have that Inuyasha taking _my_ wife from me again!" Lord Koga shouted, storming down the hall to lock himself in his own chambers for he was afraid for his life at the moment.

. . .

Sesshomaru and Inuyasha, now in their true forms, were doing a splendid job of scaring away the guards of the castle. While Inuyasha intimidated them with feral snarls and roars, Sesshomaru took care of disposing of those who threatened to attack the other Inuyoukai. Miroku and Sango watched in awe but then, as soon as all of the guards were taken care of, Sesshomaru charged the castle doors and broke them down.

After Inuyasha and Sesshomaru had transformed, the proud youkai slung Inuyasha over his shoulder as he trailed the two humans as they made entrance into the castle. Miroku's eyes widened as his grip clenched on his staff at who was standing in the doorway. Sango looked between the two and wondered why Miroku looked so angry and shocked.

"My, my, Miroku. You've grown up. You still have that bratty stink about you that I just don't like. Your mother had it also," Lord Akira sneered, laughing haughtily at the young man when he heard a growl pass his lips.

"I am Miroku, son of Koharu, the woman whose heart and life you stole. Prepare to die a slow and agonizingly painful death while the satisfaction plays across my face for only your eyes. Come. Attack me..." Miroku said aloud to him, watching the surprise that washed the elder youkai's face.

Without saying a word, Lord Akira turned and fled before Miroku could fully register what happened. He was about to go tearing after when Sango grabbed his arm. A tear slid down her cheek. "Don't die on me, Miroku..." She told him and kissed him before shoving him in the right direction. "I believe in you!" she called after him, fear engulfing her.

"Ah, so Miroku has found the youkai, eh?" Sesshomaru asked, as he dragged Inuyasha. Sango nodded but was nearly knocked over when Miroku zoomed back.

"Sesshomaru! I can't find him! Track him for me! _Please_!" The young man shouted in supreme disparity. "I must find him!"

"If you must. Follow me," Sesshomaru replied, setting Inuyasha on the ground. "Watch him, Sango."

The young woman nodded, watching as they disappeared from her vision. Inuyasha growled on the floor. "What the hell am I supposed to do now? I'm never gonna find Kagome with no mode of transportation!"

"I'm sorry, Inuyasha. You'll just have to wait until Sesshomaru gets-" She gasped when a wolf guard appeared around the corner. Inuyasha's head whirled around as his eyes widened with surprise.

"Hey, woman. You smell real good..." The youkai mumbled, drunk and smelling strongly of sake. His balance was off and Sango made a run for it.

"I'm sorry!" She yelled over her shoulder as she attempted to flee. Inuyasha let out an exasperated sigh.

_Well this sucks_, he thought blowing out another breath as he attempted to crawl. _I guess if you want something done right you've got to do it yourself_. _Now then. Let's see if I can crawl my way to Kagome's room..._

_. . ._

_Ending Writer's Corner:_

EEEP! I had to keep the way the priest spoke the same! It's just so funny, am I right? That's like my favorite part. But anyway, the next chapter will be the last one. Tear! Tear! Sniff! Then there will be an epilogue after it! Hope you're excited for the next event filled chapter!


	19. Chapter Eighteen

_Writer's Corner:_

We're getting to the end! The grand finale! The crème de la crème part... Let's just hope I do a good job! I'm so sad! The story will be completed after this chapter and the epilogue! NOOOOO... And yes in a way. That way there will be no more cliffhangers for readers! YAY!

. . .

_Previously..._

_"Hey, woman. You smell real good..." The youkai mumbled, drunk and smelling strongly of sake. His balance was off and Sango made a run for it._

_"I'm sorry!" She yelled over her shoulder as she attempted to flee. Inuyasha let out an exasperated sigh._

Well this sucks_, he thought blowing out another breath as he attempted to crawl. _I guess if you want something done right you've got to do it yourself. Now then. Let's see if I can crawl my way to Kagome's room...

. . .

_**Chapter Eighteen:**_

"He's that way. Calm yourself human or you will not last long enough to avenge your mother's death," Sesshomaru called after Miroku's retreating form. As he watched him go, he returned to the spot where he had left Sango and the paralyzed Inuyasha. One eyebrow rose slightly as he trailed Sango's scent, realizing that she might need his assistance.

. . .

Miroku nearly tripped as he stomped up the staircase, following Sesshomaru's directions. The adrenaline was pumping madly through his veins as he approached a well-lit room. He entered swiftly but was quickly immobilized when a surging pain went through his entire body. Lord Akira, in the blink of an eye had flown into his path and delved his clawed hand into his midsection. Miroku coughed, his eyes wide in shock, pain and disbelief. Blood started to trail down his lip as he wheezed and hacked again, unable to stop the writhing torment in his gut.

"Fool. Dead before you could even try to defend yourself. Much like how your mother died, eh?" The youkai whispered craftily into the young man's ear, retrieving his hand swiftly from the body it had been buried in. Miroku spat up a stream of blood and fell back against the wall for support, breathing raggedly and sweating, as his vision grew blurry.

"I'm sorry... mother..." He whispered. Lord Akira chuckled darkly, wiping his bloodied hand on his robes as he gauged Miroku's next move.

"And yet again I win, I suppose. I should have finished what I started years ago. Do you remember that day? When I dismembered your body and left tattoos of memory?" The blue youkai sneered at the fatally wounded human. Miroku's eyes narrowed and his survival instincts and sheer will power kicked in. "I suppose you would. Now you can die and join your mother," he added, as he struck forward, surprised to be blocked by a brandished golden staff.

"I am Miroku, son of Koharu, the woman whose heart and life you stole..." Miroku wheezed, gaining his balance as he ignored the protest his body gave. Lord Akira's eyes widened but then he struck again, this time, the young man came over the top and slammed down on the youkai's hand, shattering the bone. He cried out in pain and growled, his fangs dripping with blue liquid as his eyes flashed red. "Prepare to die a slow and agonizingly painful death while the satisfaction plays across my face for only your eyes!" Miroku said, now shouting as he hobbled around the room, fending off the demon that had a broken hand and was fighting to get rid of him.

"SHUT UP!" Lord Akira roared, his claws extended fully as he lost all of his composure and let his youkai blood take over. Miroku could see that the demon's defined agility and grace had disappeared and he was now battling like a savage animal. He blocked all attacks that the furious blue youkai threw at him and knocked him back against the wall. Using what strength he had left, Miroku unsheathed a blade that was hidden in his robes and leapt on top of the youkai who had killed his mother just has he tried to leap up. Unfortunately, Akira's legs were in the pathway of the ferociously sharp sword.

He fell onto the floor in a puddle of his own blood, shocked that he could feel such pain. Lord Akira's eyes were menacingly wide as he gasped in disbelief at the displeasing scent of his own blood. His eyes returned to their normal shade of aqua and he held up his arms in surrender. Miroku came closer to him, holding the blade above him. "Please... Miroku... Child, do not do this..."

"Why shouldn't I? You slew my mother, beast, even when she begged for her life," The young man hissed through clenched teeth, forcing the blade up to the major vein in the youkai's neck, causing him to take a short air of breath.

"B-but you are compassionate... Let me go elsewhere, away from here so you will never know about me again..." Lord Akira pleaded, looking truly afraid. Miroku's brow was creased in anger but something flickered behind his eyes.

"You are right," He stated, stepping back. "I _am_ compassionate. I will spare your life but get away from here and _never_ grace my presence ever again," He finished, still holding the blade as he turned around weakly, his hand pressing his cloak into his wounds to staunch the blood flow as best he could. He started to walk away but Lord Akira grinned evilly.

"FOOL!" He roared as he used all the strength in his one arm to catapult what was left of his body onto the young man's, hoping to grab the sword and slaughter him. Miroku was not the fool the youkai claimed him to be for her knew that he would try to kill him after sparing him. He turned around with in a fluid motion and sliced Lord Akira in half, his blood splashing onto the ground.

Miroku dropped the sword, both hands now clutching his injury as he staggered down the steps feeling one and at peace with himself. _You are avenged mother, and I have been revenged..._ He immediately thought of Sango and his steps quickened, despite how much pain he was in.

. . .

Kagome, angry as she ever would be, stormed out of the room she had been so carelessly thrown into and stomped down the hall to the armory room. There was no way in hell she would be used as a toy and be thrown around as such. Even if she was now married to the stinking beast. She cringed inwardly at the thought. She opened the door and blindly strolled in, reaching up to grab a small but well define dagger.

"I will not give myself to that wolf. He'll not touch me," She whispered angrily as she raised the knife to plunge it into her breasts. She was about to do so when she heard a snort from behind her. Her eyes widened in alarm. She whirled around and was speechless.

"What the hell am I going to fondle when I take you back with me, Kagome?" Inuyasha asked her sardonically as he lay, strewn about, in a corner on the floor. He had been too exhausted to find her room so he took refuge in the armory until he had a little more strength to make it further.

Kagome let out a cry of joy and flew into his body, knocking the air out of him. He gasped in pain for she was being rather rough. She started to kiss him viciously and tug at his clothes but his complaints stopped her. "Damn it! You're hurting me woman!" He barked, causing her to draw back and stare at him blankly. "Now. You can do all that you're doing, just be _gentle_!"

The young woman laughed and did as he said, pleased to know that he was not angry with her for doing what she had done earlier. "I'm sorry, Inuyasha. I'm married to him now. There's nothing I can do..."

"Nah, you're not married," The Inuyoukai replied, breathing in her heavenly scent, his nose twitching when he silky hair brushed against his nose.

"What do you mean? The priest was there-"

"It was rushed. I could hear it from the foyer. You weren't properly married, Kagome," Inuyasha told her smugly, with not but a bit of arrogance. "That's a good thing for me. I'll still have you all to myself."

"Inuyasha... I want to be in your arms..." She told him gently, snuggling into his chest.

"Well, I would hold you in my arms-" He stopped and growled, his amber eyes now narrowed from the new occupant of the room. Kagome turned her head slightly to see her so-called husband looking ready to kill in the doorway.

"How in Kami-sama's name are you still alive, Inu-####?" Lord Koga snarled, stepping into the room more so.

"You may not believe this but I'm extremely hard to kill, wolf," Inuyasha spat back, flashing his fangs in warning. Lord Koga did not heed this warning. The wolf looked him over, seeing his position and crossed his arms.

"I could kill you now. You probably lack the strength to do anything," Lord Koga laughed but was silenced when the Inuyoukai on the floor let out a cruel chuckle. "What are you laughing at?"

"Just thinking about how I could maim you and make you live in misery for eternity. Every where you go, everyone, women and children will wonder what you are..." Inuyasha replied in a ##### manner as he smirked up at the youkai lord.

"What? You dare to speak to _me_ that way?" Lord Koga roared, taking a defensive stance. "Just how do you suppose you are going to make be look hideous enough for children to be afraid? You probably cannot even stand!" He laughed, throwing his head back, overemphasizing his triumph'.

"Can't I?" Inuyasha asked, motioning for Kagome to step back. She watched in bewilderment along with Lord Koga, who was feeling quite a bit of fear at this point, as the Inuyoukai got to his feet and lifted his hand. "Don't even try to run. I'll find you no matter where you go... And I. Will. Kill. You..." He hissed, his amber eyes narrow as slits.

The wolf gasped and dropped to his knees, knowing that if Inuyasha was after him, he would not last long. "I am at your mercy..." he whispered in shame and fear. Inuyasha laughed but then winced and his knees started to buckle. Kagome caught him, wondering what on earth was going on. Lord Koga was about to leap to his feet and kill him, seeing that it was only a bluff but Sesshomaru had chanced upon the argument and made an appearance in the room. Unknowingly coming to Inuyasha's aid.

His elegant hand wrapped around the wolf's neck as he held, twisting slightly so that Lord Koga went limp in his hand. He eyed Kagome, who was looking very shocked and not to mention sick, and Inuyasha who nodded to him gratefully. "I didn't know you were going to help me out."

"I wasn't. I just wanted him dead," Sesshomaru replied stonily. Sango burst through the doors, helping Miroku to walk for he was still losing a lot of blood.

"Hey! I remember all of you!" Kagome exclaimed, her eyes shining in recognition.

"Yes, that is all fine and good but we must leave. _Now_," Sesshomaru told them all as he opened the window. He jumped down onto the ground and transformed into his true form so that the three humans and one youkai could ride on his back.

As they fled from the castle, Kagome leaned onto a still weakened Inuyasha, watching Miroku and Sango whisper sweet nothings to each other. She couldn't hear what they were saying but the look on Inuyasha's face said she didn't want to know. "Inuyasha, what's happened? Why are you so... weak right now?" Kagome asked him gently.

"I was mostly dead. Lord Koga tried to kill me with this Machine of Death' contraption but then these guys took me to see a sword smith who forged a sword of life," He replied and chuckled ruefully at Kagome's slightly confused expression. "All in all, it's a long story. That's really all you need to know," he finished, his amber eyes softening when he gazed at her face intently.

Kagome nodded and enjoyed the ride, leaning into Inuyasha's warmth. She closed her eyes and relaxed into him. Inuyasha was just happy to be near her again but now, she would be his and he would be hers. He blinked a few times and berated himself for not noticing a crucial thing like this before. _Kami-sama? How long as she been heavy with my pup?_ He thought, but looked down at her peaceful and carefree face. _I'd better just let her sleep for now and choose a better time to tell her..._ He thought as the rolling hills of the country scenery started to envelope them all as they rode on the back of an Inuyoukai in his true form.

. . .

_Writer's Corner:_

OMG! ALMOST DONE! NOOOOOOOOO! Stay tuned for the epilogue!


	20. Epilogue

_Warning: There beez some lime in here. It's not too bad but I'm giving you some warning... Er... it's about the same as a PG-13 movie. That's how I planned it I suppose..._

_._

_**Epilogue:**_

_**. . .**_

Even though it was pitch black in the hut, it was not dark to a pair of youkai eyes who watched his beautiful mate sleep. He looked down upon her resting form with adoration, his heart swelling in pride, love and possession. She was his, and there was none who could take her away. Not again, anyways.

The beauty of his obsession began to stir as she let out a tired moan, her body arching against his hot and solid form, unconsciously. Slumberous eyelids caped in thick, delicate lashes opened revealing sparkling chocolate brown eyes that spoke the same story as his. She smiled lovingly up at him and gasped lightly when he nipped at the juncture of her neck where he had marked her the first time they had made love, only this time it was more pronounced and freshly opened. Her soft body melded into his as he crawled on top of her again, his hair becoming like a silvery blanket for their bodies at the chill in the room.

"Kagome..." Inuyasha whispered huskily into her ear as he kissed her openly on the mouth, loosing himself in her. Her hands swam through his beautiful silvery white hair as she kissed him back, her body coaxing him unconsciously.

"Please, Inuyasha... Tell me again... Tell me again," the young woman whispered, her voice soft and pleading as he began to roam her curves gently. The youkai above her chuckled but complied with her request.

"You're beautiful and you always have been, my Kagome," He told her, closing his eyes when she wrapped her arms around his neck and elevated herself slightly so she could press soft, chaste kisses on his neck and sultry chest. She sighed his name and lowered herself to the bed where he took her again for the third time that night, not grasping that she would be with him until the day she passed on.

After all pleasantries had been dealt with, the couple calmed and laid in each other's embrace. A long comfortable silence passed between them and Kagome could have sworn that he had fallen asleep. "Kagome, I have to tell you something."

"What is it, beloved?" she asked him, her soft hair brushing against his naked chest. He almost growled at the warm sensation but continued on with what he was saying.

"You... You're going to have my pup in five months," He whispered into her hair, waiting for her to be afraid but she only looked into his face with a big smile.

"I'm glad. I want to have your children, Inuyasha," She replied, taking his hand and placed it on her stomach and closed her eyes. "I can't wait..."

He made no reply, only kissed her softly and snuggled against her shoulder, feeling warm and feeling accepted.

. . .

Hardship lies in the path of love but there are none who can change the course of fate. Not all relationships have a happy story but most work out in the end. Thus, the Princess Bride. A story of hardship and true love. Not a perfect tale, but a romance all the same.

A pup was born and the tale of love continued there after, Kagome and Inuyasha staying together forever, never wavering. Sango and Miroku married and had children of their own, living across the field in a hut adjacent to Inuyasha and Kagome's. Sesshomaru stayed about, patrolling the lands and after many years found a mate of his own.

All came to be and was good for everyone. Love can conquer but trust can last longer. A beautiful ending.

The Princess Bride

_**THE END**_

. . .

(OMG! It's over! I had a great time writing this! Please tell others about this and visit my other stories if you think this was a success. TEAR TEAR! I miss it already! Oh well! Now it's time to move onto other things... and finish the obese chapter for 'Kokoro no Ai'... hmph... Ah well! Review please! IT WAS A RESPLENDANT ENDING, NO?)


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